


Time to Stop Running ; Time to Stop Hiding

by jumbyxjenkins



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, F/M, Fallout 4 story spoilers, I tagged hancock/ss but its really not actually the SS. Its just an OC, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-18
Updated: 2016-10-27
Packaged: 2018-05-07 12:06:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 40,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5455916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jumbyxjenkins/pseuds/jumbyxjenkins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hancock hadn't been himself recently, and Nora had been worried. This fear came to fruition when he collapsed out of the blue one night, and had been in a coma since. She had to find someone to help him. She had lost too many people in this world, and she wasn't going to let Hancock join that list. Hancock/OC, Eventual smut, explicit language.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Welcome to my story! I know where I am beginning, and where I am going to end up, but the area between A&B is a little cloudy right now. This is one of only 4 fanfictions I have ever put down in writing, and the first I have ever posted. So, be gentle with the critique, I welcome constructive criticism; I want to make the story better, but I have always been very nervous about posting any of my writings. I know I am not the greatest writer in the world, but I like to come up with the stories in my mind and I decided to share this one with others, it is just very difficult to take the "movie" in my mind to a written description that lets another person see it too.
> 
> I am going to try super hard to stay in character with Hancock/Nick/etc. but please let me know if I am off.

We were all just sitting around the fire in Sanctuary. Eating and drinking, some of us were laughing. Nick and I could tell for a while that something was wrong, but we had no idea what, and Hancock would never admit to us that anything was up. For a while, he hadn't been himself. He wasn't talking much, he didn't seem to want to go out anymore, and most shockingly, he was taking fewer "chem breaks" by choice. But when we would ask him about it, he would just say, "Nothing but some bad mentats. It'll blow over."

Nevertheless we didn't see it coming when he just fell off of the couch and started seizing. I had only seen anything like it one other time, one of my friends from high school had epilepsy and had a seizure at a party once. Up until the war, up until vault 111, it was the most terrifying thing I had seen.

Everyone at dinner was shocked. Most stepped back, Nick, Curie and I rushed in to stabilize him. I made sure to grab his jaw so he wouldn't bite off his own tongue. It was all so surreal. Just a few weeks ago, he was sitting here with us, joking with us, pissing off Danse just to see him react. Now here we were, sitting on the floor holding his convulsing body. Curie was barking orders at everyone that I couldn't even pay any attention to. It was like the movies where after an explosion, the main character would see people talking in slow motion, but not hear any voices. I couldn't do a fucking thing to help my friend who may be dying in my arms.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"What do we do now?" Nora asked, fear dripping from her words.

"Truthfully, madame, I have no idea. I only have a limited medical knowledge for ghouls. No doctor who I have spoken to in our travels has been able to give me more than a basic understanding of them. They told me what they knew for my research, but it was not much. They are a mystery to medical science." Curie spoke mournfully. "We have him stabilized. He is alive. He is breathing, but he is nonresponsive. For lack of a better term, he is in a coma. I am sorry Nora, but I do not know what else I can do. I can keep him breathing, keep him alive, but I do not know how to fix him." Curie watched as tears formed in Nora's eyes and she ran from the room. She looked down at the ghoul laying on the bed, Piper had folded his red frock coat and laid it neatly on the chair beside him. His tricorn hat placed on top. He didn't look like himself, just an undershirt and pants. No cocky smirk. No witty retorts. Just a ghoul on a bed. Lifeless other than the abnormally slow rise and fall of his chest. Curie was never fond of his avid drug use, but he was kind to her. Nevertheless, she did not enjoy the way she felt seeing him like this.

Nick followed Nora out of the room and found her sitting on the edge of the pavement outside the building. Her face in her hands, and her elbows on her knees. He knelt down behind her.

"Hey. Are you okay?" He asked quietly. Already knowing the answer, but he had to ask anyway.

"No, Nick. I am not fucking okay. Hancock is my friend and he is laying in there in a Goddamn coma, and there is absolutely nothing I can do. Curie said she has no idea what to do. I can't just sit here and let him die, Nick. I can't."

"I know, I know." He slipped his arms around her and put his head on her shoulder. She clutched his arms and rested her head against his. "We will figure something out."

She turned her head to look at him, "How? Nobody knows how ghouls work. In the words of Curie 'They are a medical mystery'."

Nick suddenly remembered something he had heard a long time ago. "Wait a second. Back in Diamond City, before McDonough purged all the ghouls from the city, I remember always hearing whispers of a doctor for ghouls. Nobody ever said much about them. I think this doctor wanted to stay hidden. It was one of those 'You have to know about it, to know about it' type of things. I never had a reason to look into it. Nobody ever needed me to." Nora's eyes got big and watery; Hope.

"Oh my God, Nick! We have to go find this doctor, he is our only hope." Realization dawned on her, "Wait. that was like, ten years ago. And all the ghouls are gone, how would we find him?"

Nick stepped closer to her and grabbed her hands in his. "Honey. You know who you are talking to, right? I am Diamond City's best detective."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"This is hopeless. We have talked to twenty people, and nobody knows what we are talking about." Nora said, looking at Nick as they continue walking through Diamond City.

"Don't give up just yet. There is one person left that I wanted to talk to. He used to be a bar hand at the Dugout Inn in those days. He knew everything about everyone. He stopped working there not long after the ghoul purge. But he still lives here." Nick said. He really didn't know if he would know anything either, but he had to sound confident. Not just for himself, but for her. He had to make her keep hope. I hope he knows something. Anything.

Nick walked up to the rickety door and knocked sternly, Nora standing behind him anxiously.

"Who is it?" A voice yelled from within.

"Hey Jake, it's Nick Valentine. I was wondering if you could help me with something." The door opened slowly.

"Hello, Detective Valentine, it has been a long time since I have seen you. Heard you have kept yourself busy." He looked at the beautiful women standing slightly behind Nick, holding onto Nick's arm, "Really busy, it seems."

Nick pretended not to notice the glance at Nora and the remark about her. "So, as I was saying I need your help with something, and it is kind of an emergency. It is about a rumor I heard a long time ago, back before the ghouls were ran out of Diamond City."

Jake could hear the urgency in Valentine's voice. Something he had never really heard before. "Oh yes, of course. Both of you come on in."

The two of them entered the man's residence. Jake was your average Commonwealth citizen. He was older than Nora, he was maybe fifty, but he looked well for his age. His age was only truly evident in the stark white of his hair, and the years in his voice. Jake gestured towards his couch, and the two obliged. Jake sat in an old chair across from them.

"So what is this rumor? I knew most of the rumors back then, but not all. There were more than you'd think."

"I never heard much, I think it was kept very quiet, but I heard about a 'Doctor for Ghouls', who was here in Diamond City"

A look crossed Jake's face, a look of shock, followed by sadness. "Why are you asking about this, Valentine?" Nick looked at Nora's face, and saw the worry still in her eyes.

"A friend of ours is really sick. We think he may be dying, but normal doctors, they… They don't know what to do for him. "

Jake took a deep breath. "Who you heard about wasn't really a doctor. She was more of a Pharmacist for ghouls. Her name was Lydia."

"Was?" Nora spoke softly. Her voice cracking.

"Yeah, she is dead. Her whole family was murdered during the ghoul purge. When people accused Mcdonough of killing her he claimed that the ghouls turned against her, and killed her. Nobody who sided with the ghouls believed that bullshit, but the bandwagon for his campaign just got larger. Most people believed him, and a mother and father and two small children being killed by ghouls was the fuel he needed."

Jake looked at the couple, tears were forming in Nora's eyes, and Nick was looking very concerned as well. They are really worried about their friend. Shit. I have to tell them.

"But, that is beside the point. What I meant by the whole "Not a real doctor" thing is that people would come to see her, she would take note of their symptoms and based on a book of protocols, she would give them medicines that she had for ghoul problems. "

"A book of protocols? Ghoul medicine? None of this makes sense!" Nora said, getting dragged along by her emotions.

"Cool it, lady. Let me finish my story. If there was an emergency, something that wasn't a generic Ghoul sickness, she would have volunteers take them to 'The Office'. Where they would meet the real Doctor. The person who wrote the book, and makes the medicines."

"How do you know all of this, Jake? This isn't information you hear in rumors." Nick questioned.

"I know this, because when Lydia was killed, I took over her position. That is why I quit the Dugout. Work is light, there are only a handful of ghouls who still live here in secret. And I have yet to have an 'emergency' situation."

"Holy shit! You have to help us. Will you please help our friend?" Nora said, standing up from her calm seated position. Jake looked at her, and then back to Nick. A look of distrust in his eye.

"Jake, you know you can trust me, and I trust this woman with all that I am. She just wants to help her friend, more than anything, and her emotions sometimes get the better of her." Nora sat back down, and with a frown, placed her hand on Nick's knee, a sign of apology.

This was good enough for Jake. "Okay. The doctor treasures her privacy more than anything. So what I am about to tell you, you cannot share with anyone else without her or my permission, you understand?"

Nick nodded, and after a second so did Nora. She was surprised. Her? This doctor is a woman? That is impressive.

"She travels to a few towns on certain days a week, you can maybe catch her one of those days if you know when and where to go."

Nora interjected, "That will work great, when does she come to Goodneighbor? I am sure she goes there with all of the ghouls living there."

A serious look crossed Jakes face, "Um…She doesn't go to Goodneighbor. Ever. I think her exact words when I asked her were, 'I can't go to Goodneighbor because If I see that God-forsaken Mayor, I can't guarantee I won't rip his throat out with my bare hands'"

Nick and Nora's faces dropped in horror.

"Shit, that is your friend, isn't it? Mayor Hancock?"

Nick nodded just once.

"Well, then your best bet is to go directly to her office and try to plead your case. I know she must sound psychotic, but I swear to you she is the best person I know. I am not saying it will be easy, but she isn't beyond reason. I don't know why she hates him so much. She shut me out completely when I asked her. But it has to be something big and something personal. So tread very carefully. I will mark her office on your map. Good Luck."

"Thank you so much, Jake. I know this wasn't easy." Nick said as he shook the man's hand.

"I hope she helps him. For your sake." Jake said looking at Nora and shaking her hand.

After the door closes Nora looks at Nick, "So, we found a doctor that can save Hancock, but she has some sort of mortal grudge against him and wants him dead. Is this a step forward or backward?"

Nick steps forward, and brushes a lock of her black hair behind her ear and pulls her in for a kiss. She throws her arms around his shoulders, his other hand finds the small of her lower back.

After a moment, he pulls away and softly smiles, "Let's just call it neutral."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wha-what? Nick and Nora? Nick isn't even a romancable option for Nora! but seriously, I swear, it is a Hancock fic. You just gotta be patient. Hope you enjoyed it! I will try to keep it updated in a reasonable time frame. Thank you for reading!
> 
> -Jumb


	2. To See the Doctor!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I listen to songs for inspiration for the feelings of characters I create. If you are interested in that sort of thing, the song for this chapter is "Here to Stay" -Korn
> 
> -Jumb

Nick and Nora arrive at the place marked on the map by Jake in Diamond City. "This can't be right." Nora says. Looking at the building. It was an old colonial house. Two stories, and looks mostly untouched by nuclear fallout. There are some places where you can tell that the roof/walls/floor/etc. have been repaired, but it looks stunning. Someone worked very hard to make this place very nice.

Nora grabs Nick's metal hand as they walk up to the front door. She looks into his eyes and takes a deep breath. She picks up the big metal ring hanging from the mouth of a lion and slams it into the door three times.

A female voice rang out from within, "We are closed today, if nobody is dying, or you aren't bringing me chemicals, leave." The voice was deep and raspy. A ghoul's voice.

Nora clears her throat, "Hello, doctor? My name is Nora, and if you have time I would really like to talk to you about a great friend of mine who needs your help." She hears movement on the other side of the door, and the door opens slowly, revealing the woman inside.  _That is most definitely not a ghoul._

The woman is pretty short, probably around 5'2", she is wearing a tanktop, saggy loose cloth pants, and no shoes. Nora looks to the woman's face. She is pretty, in an unconventional sort of way. She would have been around average pre-war. But in today's world, she was stunning. Her face is smooth and blemish free, but she has unnaturally blue eyes, like nothing Nora had ever seen before. Her black hair is pulled back into a messy librarian bun, but judging from the size of the bun, her hair is really long and there is a lot of it.

The woman notices Nora looking at her clothes, "Sorry. It's my day off. I like to get super high and lay around in sweatpants. Sue me." Nora put up her hands in a 'no judgement' gesture, "Hi, my name is Dorothy. I usually go by just Dora though, flows easier off the tongue. But most people just call me Dr. D. You must be Nora, and you are?" She looked at the synth standing by Nora's side.

"Hello Doctor, my name is Nick Valentine." Nick said softly, extending his hand to the woman.

"Oh, I have heard of you, you are the detective from Diamond City, right?" She shook his hand and smiled.

"I see my reputation precedes me." Nick grinned, "Nothing but good things I hope?"

"Of course. The best. I do a lot of work on synths, and many of them seem to look up to you as the kind of person they aspire to be." She pauses. "Shit, I am being rude. Please come in, make yourselves at home." She steps inside the house and makes sure the couple follows her.

Nora is taken aback by what she sees inside the home/office. They enter into a room setup to look like a pre-war doctor's office waiting room, complete with the uncomfortable looking chairs, coffee table of magazines, and the window to another room with a hole for the employee to speak through. Every detail was correct, down to the cheesy modern paintings on the walls.

They step through the door next to the window that says "Associates Only" and are immediately met by a staircase on the left and a hallway on the right.

"The hall holds all the exam rooms, the office is downstairs, and my home is upstairs." Dora says as she proceeds up the staircase.

When they reach the top, they enter a large living room with a hallway leading back further into the house. Nora is again astounded by how many of the decorations are pre-war, but look completely undamaged. They proceed into the living room, and Dora gestures for the two to sit on the couch, and she takes a seat in an impeccably fluffy recliner across from them.

Dora looks at Nora, "So, you sounded pretty upset before when you are asking for my help, but your synth friend here seems to be in perfect health. So, color me intrigued. Why did you come all this way just to talk to me?"

Nora took a deep breath and looked at Nick for reassurance. He gave her a slight nod. That was all she needed. "Okay, so I know you are probably not going to be happy with what I am asking of you, but will you please, please just hear us out?" Nora whined, tears already forming in her eyes.

Dora looked the teary woman in the eyes, and narrowed her own, moving her mouth slightly upwards in contemplation. "Alright. I promise I will listen to what you have to say."

"I mentioned before that our friend needed your help. And he does, other doctors don't know what is wrong with him because they don't know enough about ghouls. But the problem is, that you have a grudge against our friend."

Dora's eyes turned serious, and her expression blank, "And who is your  _friend_?", her voice even lower than before.

"John Hancock." Nora said, the first tear falling from her eyes.

Nick noticed Dora's fist clench at the mention of Hancock's name, and he knew this was not going to go well. Her eyes narrowed, and she took a short breath. She leaned in her seat towards Nora.

"You have got to be  **fucking** kidding me, right?" Dora locked eyes with Nora, who was letting more tears fall. Nora gave a slight nod of 'no'. The doctor slowly stood up. "Well, if that's all you were here to ask me, I would appreciate it if you'd kindly get the  **HELL** out of my **FUCKING HOUSE**!" she screamed, pointing towards the door.

Nick went to grab Nora's hand, but she was already standing too. "Please, no. I am begging you to help him. He is my best friend and a great man and I just can't imagine a world without him in it. I have lost too many people in my life already!"  _Nate, Shaun…_ "I don't know what he has done to you, but I know what kind of person he is, sure he has his flaws but he is a GOOD PERSON, and he is my FRIEND."

Dorothy clenched her teeth and looked at the crying woman in her living room. "Listen here, lady. If you had any idea what that  _wonderful friend_ of yours took from me, you wouldn't be asking me to do this." She blinked a few times. Her anger seeming to be turning into sadness.

Nick stood up beside Nora, and grabbed her hand. She clutched it tightly.

"Whatever was stolen, we can get it back. Or we can pay whatever its value was." Nick said calmly.

"You think this is about some fucking  _thing?!_ That motherfucker took my Goddamn  **LIFE.** There were four things in this whole fucking world I gave a damn about and he took  **ALL OF THEM.** My sister, Lydia. Her Husband, Nathan, and my niece and nephew, Natalie and Ryan. All of them were murdered by your  **FUCKING FRIEND!** " Dorothy reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded sheet of thick paper and threw it at Nora.

She caught it and opened it. It was a photograph of a tall, slender man with wavy blond hair. He was standing over a woman, looking down at her. Her eyes were looking into the lens of the camera. She was dead. Nick looked over Nora's shoulder at the photo. Nora looked at Nick.  _Is this really him?_ It had been a very long time since Hancock had looked like that, but he wouldn't forget his face. He gave her a nod. His eyes sad. Nora's heart broke. Nick looked closer into the picture, he looked into Hancock's face, and saw sadness.  _He wouldn't have been sad looking at her if he had killed her._

"What if he wasn't the one that killed them?" Nick questioned, looking at the Doctor, who simply scowled and looked at the photo in Nora's hands. Nora looked up at him, confused. "I am not denying that the man in the picture isn't Hancock, I know that it is, but I can also see that there is a sadness in his eyes. And don't you find it a little suspicious that there happens to be a photograph of the incident?

Nora looked up at Nick and smiled slightly through her tears.  _There is the detective I love._

Dorothy looked at the synth. "Alright Detective Valentine. You prove to me that the good mayor didn't murder my family, and I will be more than happy to fix him. How long has he been comatose?"

Nick and Nora looked at each other. Then Nora spoke, "Three days. How did you know he was…?"

Dorothy smirked wryly. "I know, because I am the one who did it to him. Frankly I am both surprised and impressed that he lasted this long. At this rate, you should have about two weeks before he passes the point of no return. Then even I won't be able to save him."

Nora's mouth fell open, "You,  _poisoned_  him? When?"

Dora looked at the teary eyed woman, "You thought I was just going to forgive and forget about him killing my family. I was just going to kill him, but I figured turning him into a ghoul and watching him slowly die was more akin to the pain he caused me."

Nora just stared at the Doctor, in horror. Nick simply looked at her, he even smirked at the irony. He knew that if the roles were reversed, Hancock probably would have done the same damn thing.

"Tick tick, you two. While you stand here and stare at me, Dear Hancock's life is slip-slippin' away."

"Thank you. For helping him. Because we  **WILL** find proof." Nora stated.

"Yeah, yeah. I am sure you will." She waved her hand dismissively as they left the room and left the house.

Dora laid down on the couch and stared at the ceiling. She took a tin of Mentats from her pocket and popped one in her mouth. She closed her eyes as tears rolled down her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! I know this one was shorter, but I threw a lot of new info at ya. *The plot thickens...* I hope you enjoyed it! Sorry if there were any grammar or flow issues. I don't really have anyone to proofread it, so I just kinda wing it.
> 
> -Jumb


	3. Making a Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SPOILERS AHEAD! If you don't want to read any spoilers about Danse-related game plot, then, you should proceed with caution. Or Just let me apologize ahead of time.
> 
> Song is "Killpop" -Slipknot
> 
> -Jumb

The dynamic duo went back to Sanctuary to formulate a plan, and let the others know what had developed. When they arrived other members of the group were looking around them. Looking for signs for help. Curie, Preston, and Danse? All looking to the two for answers, as to why they came back alone when they went out for help. They went to the bed where Hancock was still lying unconscious, and began to tell the others what they had found out.

"Okay so, you went looking for someone to help him, but you somehow found the person who tried to kill him." Preston said, a doubtful tone in his voice.

"Yes. But when we prove to her that Hancock didn't kill her family, she will fix him." Nora said, trying to sound confident for the group.

"Damn General." Preston shook his head.

"But how can you be so sure that he  _didn't_ kill those people?" Danse stated. Everyone looked at him in disbelief.

"Shit Danse! We get that you don't like him, but if you  _really_ believe he would ever kill children you should just get the hell out of here right now so that we can figure out a plan!" Nora screamed at him. Danse frowned at how much he had upset Nora. As much as he didn't like the filthy ghoul, he didn't want him to die. If only for Nora's sake. And if he were being truly honest with himself, he didn't really believe that Hancock would kill children. He decided it was best for him to just stay quiet and listen.

"Well, Nick you are the detective, what do you think we should do to find out the truth?" Curie said, looking at Nick.

"Honestly, I really don't have any ideas. We found the only person who even knew who Lydia and her family were when we were trying to find the Doctor, and even if we could find someone who knew something, I don't know what proof we could really find." Nick stated. Nora was looking up at him, despair all over her face.

Curie looked down at Hancock on the bed. "Hancock knows what happened. If only he could wake up and tell us. But then I guess we wouldn't even need to know, would we."

Something Curie said resonated with Nick. "Wait, Curie. That is it!"

"What? What is  **it**?" Thoroughly confused.

"Curie, is Hancock stable enough to be moved? As far as Goodneighbor?"

Curie stared at him in disbelief, "It is possible, but I wouldn't recommend it unless it were a life or death situation.

Nora was sick of being out of the loop, "Hey, would you mind filling me in on what your big epiphany was, Nick?"

"Nora. If Dr. Amari can take you inside the memories of the cybernetic implant of Kellogg, Surely she can take Dr. Dorothy into the memories of a comatose ghoul."

"Holy Shit." Nora looked at Nick, then to Curie. "Is that possible?"

"Well, the only way it wouldn't work would be if Hancock were braindead, which if that were the case, I don't think the doctor could ever fix him anyway. And if anyone could do it. It would be Dr. Amari. But I would recommend making certain that she is willing to do it before we take the risk of moving dear Hancock that far. I would volunteer to go talk to Dr. Amari while you head back to the Dr. D, but I am not confident enough in my strength to go alone, Piper and MacCready are still out gathering supplies, and Preston is the only person I have shown how to take care of Monsieur Hancock."

Danse realized this was his chance to redeem himself. "I will go with you, Curie. I don't think Dr. Amari would like my presence very much, but I can assure you, you will make it there safely." Everyone was looking at him. Not really trusting him. "Listen. I am aware that you all think I am an asshole. And you aren't wrong. I have always played for a team, and it has always been the same team. It is hard to break the habits I learned from them, but I am trying. I need to be on a team and you are the only team I have left. If I have to escort a synth to a doctor for the railroad, to save a ghoul I don't even like to prove that to you all, that is what I will do. You have my word."

Nick looked at the former Brotherhood of Steel Paladin.  _Even I believe him._ "Alright. That sounds like a good idea. Nora and I will begin the path back to the Doctor. . Danse, you will take Curie directly to Dr. Amari and get the go ahead. You will then radio Nora to let us know to continue. We should be almost to the Doctor's Office by that time. When you get the go ahead from Dr. Amari, and let us know, you are to come back here and get Hancock. You are to carry him safely to the Memory Den from here. Preston, you will go with them, to defend the group while Danse is carrying Hancock. If Piper and Maccready come back, bring them to help. If not, Preston, you go with them. Any objections or questions to the plan?"

Everyone looked at Danse. He claimed he was willing to defend a synth, but was he willing to carry a ghoul across the commonwealth? He knew they still doubted him. And he understood completely. In their position, he would feel the same way. "Understood, Detective Valentine." He stated. Looking him in the eye with a slight smile and small nod.

* * *

"Dora? Are you home? I found us some Nuka-Cherry!" Daniel came through the office and into the living room, where he saw Dora lying in the middle of the floor, surrounded by paints and papers, black and red abstracts, as usual.

"Oh my God Dora! Are you high already?" He looks down at his watch, "Its noon. You are high by noon. That is a new record."

She rolls over to look at him. Her hair has fallen out of the bun, and is sticking together with small strips of dried paint throughout. "Oh shut up Daniel. I have had a rough morning." Her eyes are bloodshot, he knows that face. He hates what crying does to her face.

"You have been crying. What happened?"

"Nothing." She extends her hand outward to him, and he reaches out to help her up. "No, I wanted my drink. You couldn't pay me to leave this floor right now."

Daniel frowned at her. "Judging by all the paintings of blood and darkness, you have been thinking about Lydia again." He takes the cap off of the Cherry drink and hands it to her.

"Yeah. Some people came by asking for help. Brought back up a lot of old shit for me. As you can see, I am handling my emotions  _superbly._ " She tries to take a drink lying on her side, but ends up spilling more than makes it to her mouth. "Shit. Now I am gonna be sticky. Maybe I should sit up." She moves to an indian-style position, and immediately grabs her head.

"You took one of everything again, didn't you? You know that always gives you a nasty headache."

"Perhaps, but it also makes my heart shrink three sizes. A headache is much better than seeing my dead sister's face every time I close my eyes." She closed her eyes and stretched her arms above her head. Her tank top comes up, showing Daniel a good portion of her pale torso.

 _Fuck. I have seen her skin a thousand times, but I still can't look away. I want her so much. Every other woman I have ever wanted, wanted me more. Except her. One of these days I will have her. I mean, shit, I take care of her when she is high. I listen when she talks. Hell. I bring her favorite drink whenever I find some, even though I could sell it for more caps than being her "friend" is worth. What else am I supposed to fucking do?_ He clenches his fist slightly. He then realizes she was talking. "Hm? What were you saying?"

"I was saying there is another batch of Jet for you to sell. The box is in the Office downstairs. And thank you for this, Daniel. I appreciate it." She shakes the drink in her hand a little bit. "Feel free to take the cost of it out of the profits from the Jet."

"No its fine. It's a treat from me to you." He smiles at her.

 _Does he really think I don't know that he was looking at my stomach and imagining me naked? Ugh. How many times do I have to tell him he is just my friend? Does he think there is a magic number of Nuka-Colas what will make me open my legs for him? Hell. One more time can't hurt._ "Thank you Daniel. You are a good friend." His smile falters a bit, but comes back, though much more forced.

"No problem, Dorothy."  _Maybe tomorrow is the day when she realizes she wants me._

Dora sees the glimmer in his eyes.  _Holy hell._ _He still thinks he is making progress. You can tell he has had every woman in the commonwealth. It has made him a delusional dipshit._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTES::  
> "Thank you for reading! Hope you are still enjoying it!
> 
> There was also much mental anguish about whether or not to write about Danse & Curie on the way to Goodneighbor. I think I have decided not to bog the story down with subplots. I may add it later. I don't know. We will see.  
> -Jumb


	4. Down Memory Lane

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song:: "Arms of Sorrow" -Killswitch Engage

Every head in Goodneighbor seemed to turn to look at the mismatched pair entering the town. A Brotherhood of Steel paladin, escorting a small woman in flannel. They walked through the people staring at them. Curie was blissfully unaware of all the eyes, focused on her mission. Danse was busy giving everyone a “Don’t fuck with us” look.

               The two made it to the Memory Den. “Maybe it is best for the mission if I stay out here. Dr. Amari may question our intentions if she sees me here.”

               “Oh monsieur Danse, Dr. Amari helped make me, she knows Madame Nora well, and she knows that you are with us now, wholly, after your…um… revelation. It will be fine! Come on!” Curie gently grabs a finger of the power armor and pulls the Paladin inside. She walks to the back where Dr. Amari stays, careful not to disturb the patrons in the building. Dr. Amari sees them coming in, she looks at Curie, then Danse, then her eyes back to Curie.

               “I can tell this is important, let’s go to the back” Dr. Amari says, and the two follow without a word.

               When they reach the back room, Dr. Amari looks at Curie expectantly.

               “Hello Dr. Amari. We have a favor to ask. It is for Mayor Hancock. “

               Dr. Amari looks concerned, “Go on”

               “Well, to be blunt, he is in a coma, and the only person that can save his life will only do so if we can prove to her that Mayor Hancock didn’t murder her family. So we need to take this person into his memories so that she can see for herself what happened. Can you do that, Dr. Amari?”

               Dr. Amari’s mouth is agape, looking at the sincere face of the synth she helped create. “As long as he is simply in a coma his brain should still be alive, that should be enough to connect his memories to the system so that we can send someone else in.”

               Curie smiles the hugest heartfelt smile, grateful that her plan has worked, and they will be able to help Hancock, and turns to Danse. He looks at her smile, and can’t help but smile a little at her utter sincerity. “I will radio Nora to tell her the good news, and then you and I have a gh-…Mayor to go get.”

               Curies smile drops a little, but the look in her eyes does not, as she gives him a small nod. She turns to Dr. Amari. “We will go back and bring Mayor Hancock here. Nora will meet us here with the Doctor who will help him.”

               She nods, understanding the plan, but still worried, knowing that what this doctor finds in Hancock’s mind is not going to be facts on a paper, she will see the events through him. Feel what he felt. And there is always the chance that this doctor won’t be happy with what she finds.

 

* * *

 

               Nick & Nora approach the colonial house once again. Nora knocks on the door. She then hears some stumbling, glass breaking, and then the door opens. Dora is standing there, still the same outfit as the last time they met. She is holding an almost empty vodka bottle in her hand. _It is the same outfit. Except now it reeks of alcohol. Has she been drinking since we left?_

“Well, I wasn’t really expecting you to come back, especially not this fast. Whatever, give me your _proof_ ” Dora said, extra raspy, and a bit slurred.

               “Are you _drunk_?” Nora asked.

               “Not drunk enough, obviously.” And takes another drink.

               “We need you to come with us to Goodneighbor. We have arranged for you to go into Hancock’s memories and see for yourself what happened.”

               Dora raises her eyebrows and chuckles, “So, wait. You are taking me for a trip down memory lane?” She giggles “Literally?”

               Nick nods at her.

               “Okay, maybe I am drunk enough.” She sits the bottle on the floor. “Come on in, I have to go put on some travellin’ clothes.” The drunk doctor disappears upstairs.

               Nick and Nora look at each other. “That was shockingly simple.” Nick says.

               “I know. Makes me feel like it is about to get a lot more difficult.”

* * *

 

               Hancock was laying in the chair, hooked up to Dr. Amari’s machines. Curie diligently watching him; checking his vital signs. Danse, Piper, MacCready, & Dr. Amari were just standing near the walls. Waiting.

               The door slowly opened, and Nick and Nora stepped in, being followed by a small woman, the group was shocked, this was not what they were expecting. Dora’s eyes looked around the room, but froze when they met the eyes of Danse, they then fell to the Brotherhood emblem on his armor.

“Shit! Fuck! No!” Dora yelled and then spun on her heel to run from the room. Nick grabbed her arm and stopped her.

               “Let go of me, Synth!” She hissed.

               “He is not with the Brotherhood anymore. He can be trusted.”

               “Listen, I know better than anyone you can’t just _Leave_ The Brotherhood.” She Grimaced at him, then at Danse.

               Danse spoke up, “You are right, they tried to have me killed. They still want me dead.” He looked into her eyes, _unnaturally bright blue._ “Wait, you can’t be Sentinel Scott, are you?” Her eyes got large. Everyone else in the room looked at each other, very confused at the conversation across the floor.

               He began to laugh. “They use you as a horror story. To use an example for why we have to be careful when recruiting. They tell us about your eyes, ‘ _If it doesn’t look human it probably isn’t’._ But they also told us that they found you and killed you. I guess if you can evade them this long, I can too.”

               He then noticed all of the confused faces.  “Sentinel Scott was a woman who infiltrated the Brotherhood, rose to the rank of Sentinel, the highest rank of Paladin, before she released all of the prisoners, and used them to break into the medical store room. She took every chemical and medical device w-THEY had and then disappeared without a trace.” _I should probably leave out the fact that this story is over a hundred years old. Synth technology wasn’t that great then. But a human should not look this young after 100 years. What is she?_

               Dora relaxed, and Nick let go of her arm. “Well. It’s kind of nice to know that I am a boogeyman to the Brotherhood. That’s great.” She laughed. 

               _There is so much to this doctor that we know absolutely nothing about._ Nora thought.

               “We need to get back to the mission at hand. This …man needs your help.” _What she is, isn’t important. Right now, finishing the mission is the most important thing._

Dr. Amari steps forward, “If you will, please come with me.” Dora hands her bag to Nora.

               “Just remember, you don’t know how to use any of this without me.” Nora nods. And Dorothy follows Dr. Amari.

               “Who are we looking for memories of, Dr. Scott?”

               “Lydia.” Dora cringes. Her sisters name like poison on her lips.

               “I am seeing two memories of Lydia that carry great emotional weight for Hancock. I will send you to both.”

               “Thank you.” _Two? Why are there two?_

          

* * *

    

               The scene is blurry at first but it is clearing up, she hears voices. She hears Lydia’s voice.

               “John, I am not giving you anymore. You have had enough, you are going to end up killing yourself.”

               “Why do you even care? As long as you make a sale, why does it matter?” John clenches his fist.

               “Oh come on John. You know you are more to me than someone who buys drugs from me. You have had dinner with my family. You have played dolls with my children. John, you are my friend.

               “Sister, you are delusional. You are just my drug dealer.”

               Dora can feel his words. He doesn’t mean them. He is trying to push her away.

               “You know, you should meet my sister, you are just like her! You two let people get close to you, and then you freak out and try to push them away so you can run away to wallow in your own sadness. She has been alone too long. I am not going to let you follow her path.”

               Her words sting into him like daggers. She is completely right, but he doesn’t want to hear it. He wants to run. He _needs_ to run. No attachments. Just numbness.

               “You think you know everything, don’t you Lydia. Well you don’t I am fine on my own. I am happy!”

               “Happy people wouldn’t be in my kitchen begging for drugs, John.”

               “Fuck you!”

               “Oh, Yeah, fuck me right? I am just trying to be your friend.”

               “I don’t need a friend, I need a dealer who won’t question me.”

               “Fine John. I hear Goodneighbor is great for that sort of thing. You may also get murdered, but I get the feeling that is probably a bonus to you, right?”

               He storms out of the room. Slamming the door behind him. The memory fades away. Another memory begins to form in front of Dora’s eyes. It’s John and his brother.

               “You can’t do this! They are good people, you can’t just kick them out of the city.”

               “I can’t disappoint my voters, John”

               “That is bullshit and you know it!”

               “If they are such good people why are they trying to get their revenge against us?”

               “Us? What do you mean, us? This is all you.”

               “The people don’t know that. They are trying to get to us, any way they can. Through our friends.”

               “You don’t fucking have friends. And neither do I?”

               “Oh? I thought you were close to that Lydia woman. So did everyone else.”

               John ran from the office without a word. Fear. Worry…guilt. He ran to Lydia’s house. He went to knock on the door, but it just swung open. He stepped inside. “Lydia? Nathan?” He rounded the corner slowly and froze. His boot touched blood. Her blood. He looked down at Lydia, laying in a pool of her own blood. He glanced up and saw Nathan and Ryan, and Natalie. All in blood. Eyes still open. Looking at him.

               He fell to his knees, right in front of Lydia. He can feel her blood seeping through his pants and onto his legs. He pulled her lifeless body into his arms and began to rock back and forth. Crying. Sobbing. “I am so sorry. This is my fault. My fault. I should have been here. I should have listened to you. I should have stayed.” Then he just started repeating. “So…sorry…my…fault…” in between sobs and gasps for air.

               Dora couldn’t stand anymore. She couldn’t bear to see her sister like this. Couldn’t bear to see Hancock like this. She began to fight the memory, and it began to fade. She opened her eyes and was back in the room. Back in reality. She began to pull the tubes and wires from her body and leapt out of the pod. She was sitting on her knees on the hard tile of the Memory Den back room. She put her hands on her face and started crying. Completely oblivious to all the people still in the room. Watching her in horror.

               Nora moved to sit in front of her, “Dora, are you okay? What did you see?” She put her hands on Dora’s wrists and moved her hands so she could see her face.

               “He…he framed his own brother. He wanted to be able to blame someone else if someone started asking questions. And I fell for it. I tried to murder an innocent man.” She sobbed even harder. “He was Lydia’s friend. She loved him. He blamed himself for her death. And I tried to kill him for it”

“Who am I? **WHAT** am I?” She closed her eyes, tears cascading down her face.

“Hey, pull it together. You didn’t know. And you have the opportunity to make it right. He is laying right over there and you can save his life. You can make it all right again.”

She opened her eyes to look at Nora, “I…”. Nora stood up and extended her hand downward for Dora. She took it and stood up. She then walked over to the cot where Hancock was laying. Lifeless body and shallow breaths. She looked down at his face. Ruined skin, because of her. She touched his face, rubbing her thumb across his cheek. _I am so, so sorry. You have no idea._ She took in a deep breath and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Okay. We need to get him somewhere he can stay. This isn’t going to be a quick fix. It is going to take some time.”

“We can take him to his office. He will be safe there.” Nora stated, she looked at Dr. Amari, “Thank you for doing this.”

“Anything for the Mayor.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The truth is revealed! Hope you are liking it still. Thank you for reading and for all of your kudos! It makes me happy to know that you like reading it.
> 
> love -Jumb


	5. Define Medical Professionalism

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Danse Spoilers ahead.
> 
> Been trying to upload this for two days. Sorry.
> 
> Song for the chapter: 'XIX' -Slipknot

"What the hell did you do?!" Fahrenheit screams at Nora as she and the group carry Hancock into his office.

"He is just in a coma." Nora states, looking at Fahrenheit, "He will be fine."

"A coma? That's not fine! I let him leave with you and you bring him back a vegetable?"

"He was sick before he even left with me. Just calm down. This is Dr. D, she is going to fix him."

Fahrenheit turns to the short black-haired woman in simple clothes- T-shirt & Blue jeans- Pistol holstered to her hip, Rifle slung over her back. "You don't look like a doctor."

Dora advances to the tall blond bodyguard, forces a convincing soft smile, "I am a ghoul specialist. I am not much help with normal humans, though." She extends her hand and Fahrenheit reluctantly takes it.

"Take him to his back room, I will keep watch here like I always do."

"Thank you, Fahrenheit. We will take care of him. I promise." Nora softly smiles at her, seeing how much she really cares for the mayor, not just as an employer but as a friend. Fahrenheit simply nods and looks into the hallway.

They step into the backroom, and realize this is Hancock's bedroom, there is a simple colonial style bedframe, a single fluffy pillow, and a surprisingly clean red blanket. Danse gently lays the ghoul down on his own bed, Nora fluffs his pillow and raises his head to slide it under. Curie places his coat and hat in a nearby chair, and Nick hands Dorothy her bag.

She takes the bag and sets it on the floor near Hancock's head. "He is going to need a series of injections in very specific locations. Some of these are very...intimate places, and the needle really shouldn't travel through fabric. To protect his privacy I recommend most of you leave, and if you stay, you are going to help me."

Nora looks at Danse, Piper, and Maccready who are standing in the corner, "I don't think there is anything else we can do for him, so you should probably just go back to Sanctuary, there is probably a lot to take care of with all of us gone. I thank you for your help, and I am sure Hancock does too. I will radio you if anything happens" They nod and proceed out the door.

Nick places his hand on Nora's shoulder. "I will be outside if you need me." She nods. And he steps out and closes the door behind him; leaving Nora, Curie, and Dorothy in the room.

"Okay, normally, there would just be three shots every few months, but because he didn't have the required supplemental shots for so long, we will have to catch him up. He will need four now, and four again tomorrow, and then he should wake up in a few days. These are not intravenous shots, they are subcutaneous. They should go in fatty tissue. Not in veins. The locations they are meant for are where the thigh meets the groin area, above the hip, and in the breast. For the fourth, we will add the abdomen. Any questions?"

"Will this hurt him?" Nora asks.

"If he were awake, it would burn like a motherfucker. Especially the one to the nethers. But it's what will keep him alive."

"You said he would normally need these every three months, will he need to come see you again in three months?"

"Well, he lasted this long with nothing, he could probably last around 3 years. He will be able to feel it. Now that he knows what he is feeling for. But we can talk about this during the down time." She reaches into her bag and grabs a syringe and takes the cap off of the needle, and smiles. "Alright girls, let's see if we can get this sexy ghoul out of his pants." The three of them laugh.

"He is going to absolutely hate that he was asleep for this." Nora giggles, pulling the American flag from the belt loops and then unbuttoning and unzipping Hancock's pants.

"Oh the jokes he would have!" Curie laughs, helping Dorothy slide the tight dark pants off his hips and down to his knees. All three of them trying not to look at his manhood; with a 66% success rate.

Dorothy fails at averting her eyes, and looks directly at him. _Damn. How low have I fallen, getting a little flustered looking at the dick of my coma patient?_ She gently pushes the distracting appendages to one side so that she can see where she is inserting the needle. She slides it into his withered skin and pushes the plunger a fourth of the way. She slides the needle back out and places a piece of gauze on the wound. She waits a few seconds and removes it. "Okay, that one is done. We can put his pants back on, the others are all above. Nora and Curie slide the fabric back up, and Nora closes them.

Dorothy slides her hand across his waist to a spot above his hip, partly to feel for the fattiest part of his side, partly to appease her own curiosity. She pinches some skin above his hip and inserts the needle as before. Then holds the same gauze over the wound for a few seconds. _At least he still heals quickly. That is a good sign._ She feels along his abdomen, looking for a spot with enough flesh to shield the muscle. _I guess I should be happy he is all muscle. Lets me be a perv without judgement._ She finds a spot just above the shallow indenture that is his bellybutton, and repeats the injection process. Then up his chest, and without as much trouble, she locates a good spot just under his right pec.

"And he is done for the day. I'll stay here with him. Make sure there are no adverse reactions. You two go home, get some rest, and stop worrying for a while." Dorothy sits in a chair next to Hancock. "I know you need a break, Nora. Go dancing with Nick or something."

"Thank you." She smiles at the doctor. "You want to go to the Third Rail, Curie?"

"Sure! Watching the people there is always fun."

The two girls leave the room. Nora is shocked when she steps outside and sees that Danse is still there, standing next to Nick. "What are you still doing here?"

Danse clears his throat. "There was something I wanted to ask the doctor about."

_I bet this is about the whole Brotherhood thing._ "She is still in there, she is going to stay with Hancock. Curie and I were going to go to the Third Rail for a little fun. You can meet us there when you are done if you promise to behave."

"I will at least meet you there to head back to Sanctuary. Have fun." He heads to the door.

"You coming with us?" Nora looks at Nick, and extends her hand to him. He takes it, and the three of them move past Fahrenheit and into the Hall. "The doctor, Dorothy, is staying to watch after Hancock. She might need a blanket or something. I think she just plans to sleep in the chair."

"Okay, Thank you for telling me. I will take one in there later."

* * *

Soon after Nora and Curie leave, Dorothy hears a knock at the door. "Come on in." The door opens, revealing Paladin Danse. "Hello Paladin, how can I help you?"

"I just wanted to talk to you about something."

"oh? What is that?"

"The Brotherhood has been telling your story for 200 years. Synths haven't looked convincing for that long, so what are you?"

Dora looks at the tall man standing in the doorway, seeing a familiarity in his eyes. "I don't think that's really what you wanted to ask me."

He raises an eyebrow.

"I think you are wondering if it gets better. You know that I was in the brotherhood, and that I have to be something classified as 'Non-Human'. You found out that you are a synth, and you don't know if you hate yourself for your own reasons, or for theirs."

His eyes got large, "How did you…?"

"Know you are a synth? I can see in your eyes you are fighting with self-hatred, and I felt the same way when I left. Hell, I knew what I was when I went in, but even still, they had me doubting my own humanity by the time I left. They are masters of indoctrination. I can't even imagine how bad it must be for you." She pauses for a moment, running her hand through her hair. "I managed to keep myself by remembering something my parents always told me. They would always say, 'You can never hate someone for what they look like. You can hate them for the things they do. Hate them for who they are. Not what they are.' And that is how I live. I mean, I hate more people than I like. But it depends on them. Even in the people I hate, there is something about them that I like. That's what I recommend for you. Try to forget about the ideals of the brotherhood. Try to think about what _you_ like and don't like about the person."

Danse stares at her, thinking about what she is saying. Surprised that she is taking the time to talk to him.

"Let's try an exercise in this." She looks down at Hancock beside her, sleeping away. "Hancock here, what is something you hate about him?"

Danse thinks for a moment. Before, he would have just said 'He is a ghoul' but he doesn't want to be that anymore. "I hate that he is always, always doing chems, and offering them to others."

"Okay, that's good. Now what is something you like?"

This is a harder thing to think about, but he finds his answer sooner than he thought he would. "I like how strongly he fights for what he believes. He adamantly protects the innocent, and punishes the guilty."

"Good. See. That wasn't so hard."

"Can I ask another question?"

"Sure, go for it."

"Did you always intend to betray the Brotherhood?"

She thought about lying, but decided truth wouldn't harm anything for once, "Well, I was never in it because I believed in it. The entire time I was there I was stealing supplies I needed for myself, but when we took all those ghouls for _research purposes_ I snapped. I decided I was going to fulfill my dream of having a doctor's office for ghouls. I took all the supplies I might need for that, and all of their precious power armor polish and I ran."

"Power armor polish? Why?"

"The primary ingredient in the Brotherhood's favorite polishing substance just happens to also be the main ingredient in the medicine that keeps me alive. It's so very hard to find myself because the fucking Brotherhood hoards it like Goddamn candy. I guess their shiny suits are worth more than my life."

Danse begins to dig into his belongings, and pulls out a small can and holds it out to her, "Here, take it."

She looks at him in surprise, "Thank you. I really appreciate this." _Especially since I am using everything I have left to save Hancock._

"Of course. You spend your life helping people who need you. That is definitely worth more than shining armor. Thank you for talking to me, and for… helping me."

"You are welcome, Paladin."

"It's just Danse."

"You are welcome, Danse." She stands up, and hugs him through his armor, "Thank you for helping me live for another three months." She laughs and lets go. They smile at each other, and he exits the room, leaving the door cracked open slightly.

* * *

Dorothy returns to the chair beside Hancock. She looks at him, then to the can in her hands.

"This would give me another three months, but it would give you over 3 years. Heaven knows you deserve it more than I do." She puts the can in her bag and grabs his hand.

"I am the reason you are here. The reason you almost died. The reason you are forced to live as a ghoul. The reason you will need fucking injections to survive. You suffer because of my impatience and anger. I am so sorry for that." She grips his hand tighter.

"I have never even spoken to you. Never met you, really, you have no idea who I am. Why am I so drawn to you?" She laughs, "For fuck's sake, I was feeling your chest like a teenage boy seeing tits for the first time."

"Maybe it's because you are the only other person I know who cried over the death of my sister. The only other person who misses her. Who knew her. Who knows that without her, the world just isn't as bright."

"You know, I didn't know who she was talking about then, but I know now that you are the 'my friend John' that she wanted me to come meet." Her eyes begin to tear up as she laughs a little. "She said that we would be the perfect couple. That I would be the person who would finally keep you from running, and you would be the person who wouldn't let me hide who I really was."

"She said that she saw through your bullshit because it was just like mine. That we would see right through each other's fake actions." She pulls his hand to her mouth as she breaks into a full cry.

"I told her she was full of shit. That I wasn't a good match for anyone. That I was better off alone." Her tears roll off the tips of his fingers and onto the bed.

"I lied. I did want to meet you. But I was too scared. I wanted someone to finally see me, but I was so scared that they wouldn't like what they saw."

"But I was right. I'm not a good match for anyone. I am definitely not good enough for you. You deserve to live, and I deserve to die for all the things I have done to you. I would take it all back if I could. Even if you were the one who killed her, Lydia would have hated what I did. I hate what I did. Maybe when you wake up, you will want revenge. Then I won't have to feel this anymore. I won't have to feel any of it anymore." She leans further over the bed and lays her head on the pillow next to Hancock's. His hand still gripped by both of hers. She cries until sleep takes her.

* * *

Fahrenheit listens to the words of the doctor through the crack in the door. Using fragments of stories Hancock has told her during his chem breaks to fill in the gaps. She waits until she no longer hears sobs, just the sound of breathing. And opens the door slowly. She opens the blanket and drapes it over Dorothy's shoulders.

Dora wakes just enough to release one hand, and use it to wrap the blanket around herself. She then moves her head until her face is nuzzled into Hancock's bare shoulder. Fahrenheit notices all the dried tears on her otherwise gorgeous face, and her fingers entwined with her Boss's. _She is going to have one helluva neck ache in the morning, but I don't think she really cares. Her sister was right though, they are very much alike. Maybe this Dorothy is just what the Boss needs._ She softly smiles at her friend on the bed, and the woman tightly clutching his hand, even through her sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoper you liked the chapter! Thanks for reading!  
> -Jumb


	6. Crying in the Rain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! glad you are liking it. Let me know if I do anything wrong or that doesn't make sense. Some things are supposed to be ambiguous, but most are probably just little mistakes.
> 
> Song for this chapter: "Alone I Break"- Korn, if you feel like I used this song before, you are right. the previous chapter has been changed, because this one best fits here.

Nick and Nora return to the State house the next morning, Nora is slightly hungover, but Nick is holding her hand, making her feel secure. The head up the stairs and see Fahrenheit in the doorway. _Does the woman never sleep?_ "Hello Fahrenheit, how is he?"

"As far as I know he is fine. The doctor is still sleeping in there, she hasn't left his side all night. Diligent work ethic I suppose." _I wasn't supposed to hear the things I heard, I shouldn't tell people her business._ "I will go in and see if she is awake."

When she steps into the room, Dorothy's hand was still holding Hancock's, the blanket was still hanging on her shoulders, but the arm that was holding the blanket was now stretched across his chest. Her head was still against his shoulder; neck in that super uncomfortable almost 90 degree bend. Fahrenheit knocks on the wall next to her and Dorothy wakes, and quickly realizes the position she was in, she quickly moves away, and clears her throat, "I was…just…" she spits out, trying to come up with a logical explanation for this. Finding nothing.

Fahrenheit steps towards the doctor and places a hand on her shoulder, "Hey. I understand. I brought you the blanket." Dorothy notices the blanket wrapped around her, _When did she? Did she hear what I said last night?_

"Nick and Nora are here to check on the Boss. I won't ask questions. They will."

Dorothy blinks up at the tall armored woman, and rubs her neck. _Ow. It has been so long since I woke up with anything aching._ "Thank you, Fahrenheit." She replies with a nod, and leaves the room. Dorothy uses the moments alone before Nick and Nora come in to wipe the dried tears from her face and make an attempt at fixing all of the knots in her hair.

The two open the door, hand in hand, Nick looking at Nora, making sure she makes it in alright, Nora with a true smile on her face and in her eyes.

 _Those two seem to have found real happiness in each other, you can see it in their faces._ She can't help but give the sight a soft smile. "You look like you had a good night." Her smile gets larger when they look at each other.

"I had a few drinks at the Third Rail." Nora starts, Nick interrupts,

"A few? That is an understatement."

"Well what do you expect, I was out with you and Curie, I had to drink for the three of us." Nick shakes his head and Nora giggles, "Then Danse took Curie back to Sanctuary and Nick and I got a room at the Rexford," She laughed and pulled him in closer for a kiss. "We thought we would come see Hancock since we were here, Maccready was going to come with Curie here soon, He had business in Goodneighbor, and Danse mentioned something about 'Soul-Searching'."

"Well, he is doing fine, there were no problems in the night, his circulation is improving, his pulse is much easier to find now, and he is getting warmer. After we give him his injections today he could really wake up any time. He is recovering remarkably well."

"Getting warmer?" Nora questioned.

"Oh, Ghouls are naturally much hotter than normal people, and when we get sick, we get super cold. Like a reverse fever. So him warming up means he is getting better."

Nora pauses, _She said 'we', I don't think she even realizes that she said it._ "Oh, that's good. You know, you should go out, get something to eat, get a drink or something. We can stay and watch Hancock."

"I appreciate the thought, but I don't really feel much like leaving. I don't want to enjoy myself while he is still here." _I don't even want to enjoy myself when he wakes up._ 'But if you wanted to bring me some vodka, I wouldn't turn it down." She fakes a smile and a laugh,

"Okay, we will go get you a bottle." _She just wants to be alone. I understand that completely._ "We will be back soon." She turns to leave and Nick is right there behind her.

 _A human and a gen two synth, they don't let their differences, or looks, or the judgement of others keep them apart. That is beautiful._ Dorothy smiles, and then looks to Hancock laying on the bed next to her. _If I had that kind of fearlessness and confidence, maybe things would have been different. Maybe this could have had a happy ending._

She takes a pen and notepad out of her bag and begins to write. _I never got to send a letter back to Lydia, but I can write one to you for when you wake up._

* * *

"Nick, did you notice she said 'we' when she was talking about ghouls" Nora turned to Nick as they walked to Daisy's.

"Yeah I did notice that, I couldn't tell if it was just the wrong word, or if it was a slip she didn't mean to reveal."

"But she has smoother skin than mine, Nick, how could she be a ghoul?"

"That's part of what makes me wonder, you have been out in this world for a year. You have scars, scratches, wear and tear. Not as bad as most people in the Commonwealth, but it's worse than her. Apparently she was in the Brotherhood, so she is not just a doctor, she is a fighter just like you and me. So why does she look basically flawless?"

"But ghoul skin gets rougher, not nicer, doesn't it?"

"It would explain why she knows so much about ghoul physiology, and why she has the voice of a ghoul. Maybe she somehow manipulated the ghoulification process to work the other way. We know next to nothing about why it even occurs, and we know even less about her. I guess it's possible, I really don't know. But we can't rule it out."

"She said when we first met her, that she turned him ghoul. She must have made the drug he took, or put something in it. That means she knows how to create ghouls with just a drug."

"Whatever she gave him to make him a ghoul she probably took the same thing herself, but, knew what to do to keep her appearance the same."

"When she was talking about Hancock's treatment she said 'He would normally get these about every three months' and that 'they burn like a motherfucker' and she said it like she knew it firsthand."

"That's really interesting. The ghouls made from that drug must not be as stable as ghouls who just sort of happened. They need maintenance drugs to survive."

"Yeah! She said that with how long he has lasted, he could probably wait three years for another treatment. That must be because he is so much closer to natural ghouls than her."

"Explains why she only wanted vodka." He smiles at Nora.

"We better get her some then, huh" Nora pulls him closer and wraps her arm around his waist. He returns the gesture as they head into the building.

* * *

About an hour after Nick and Nora return with the vodka, Curie arrives with notebooks and a thousand questions, and Dorothy shares everything she knows about ghoul medicine. After a few hours of explaining diagnoses, treatments, and the creation of pharmaceuticals, and Curie taking notes over everything, Dorothy's medical knowledge of ghouls is now duplicated in Curie.

"Thank you, doctor, for sharing your expertise with me!" Curie exclaims, ecstatic about all the knowledge she has gained for her research.

"Of course. Doctors who understand how ghouls work are few and far between, and I see more and more ghouls getting sick every day because they don't even know how they work. Background radiation is dying off slowly, and ghouls need to have external radiation to survive. You have ghouls living nicer lives, eating cooked food and clean water that are getting sick from a radiation deficiency and it is sad. They have no idea, and nobody to tell them. That's what most of my cases are, and it's what you will see most often as well. Ghouls need radiation like normal humans need water."

"You should make a public service announcement."

"You should. I have lived my whole life in hiding, I am not going to blow my cover now." She laughs and Curie joins her.

"Isn't it time for Monsieur Hancock's second treatment?"

"Why, yes it is. Why don't you go get Nora, and we will get this ghoul naked and ready for round two." They laugh and Curie exits to go get Nora from outside.

* * *

"His pulse feels great, he is about as warm as he should be, it is up to him when he wakes up, it could be anytime within a day." Dorothy says, placing all of her things back into her back, except for the power armor polish that Danse had given her, which she hands to Curie. "He shouldn't need this for a while, but when he does, you know how to make it right?" She nods. Nora sheds some happy tears and pulls Dorothy in for a hug. Her hands pat Nora's back awkwardly.

"Thank you so much Dora. You have no idea how much I appreciate this."

"Don't mention it" She separates from Nora, "Considering I ruined his life, the least I could do was save it." She picks up her bag from the floor, "I am gonna go ahead and go home. If for some reason he doesn't wake up by this time tomorrow, please radio me." Nora nods. "Oh, and will you give him this letter from me when he wakes up?" Dorothy extends an envelope to Nora, who takes it and nods again.

"Are you sure you don't want someone to walk you home? What if something attacks you? You could die." Nora asks, concerned for her new almost-friend.

 _That's the plan._ "I can take care of myself. Been alone for a very long time, I can make the trip home by myself. It was nice to meet you all." She gives them a smile and takes one last look at Hancock before she exits the room and closes the door behind her.

On her way out of the building Fahrenheit sees her with her bag in her hand, "You are leaving?"

"Yeah. He is going to be fine, my work here is done." She begins to move through the doorway, but Fahrenheit grabs her arm.

"You should stay for him."

"Why should I?"

She swallows hard, she knows she is about to take a dangerous step. "Because your sister was right. I don't know you very well, but from what I know, you would be good for him. He needs you."

Dora's mouth drops open slightly, _She had heard what I said last night._ "Maybe she was right then. But not anymore. I have been losing bits of myself my entire life, the last bit I had left was attached to my thirst for revenge. But when I realized that that thirst ruined the life of an innocent man. **THAT** innocent man." She points towards the room Hancock is in, "I lost that too. And more. There is nothing left of me. Nothing left for me in this life. I am no good for anyone. I am not even good for myself." Tears fall from her eyes as she pulls her arm away from Fahrenheit and disappears down the hall.

Fahrenheit sighs. _Shit. Maybe she needs him more than he needs her. I didn't even fathom someone being more fucked up than the boss. But there it was. An extreme case of Hancockism._

* * *

"Do you think she is coming back, Jess?"

"I am sure she will eventually, Jenn. This is her home."

"To be her assistants she sure doesn't tell us much about anything she does." Jennifer pulls the coffee table closer to the couch so she can place her withered feet on it. Jessica follows her example.

"Yeah, all the patients are missing her. Some of them don't even fucking listen to me. They tell me I'm not a real doctor, and they want to see Dr. D. Everything in me just wants to tell them 'She isn't a real doctor either!' "

"They do the same to me. Fucking sucks. Maybe she will come back soon." A Thunderclap from the radstorm raging outside rattles the house. "I hope she isn't travelling tonight though. This is rough weather even for a ghoul like us." Jessica nods her head.

A few moments later, the sisters here the door downstairs swing open and smack the wall with a bang, then the sound of glass breaking and things falling on the tile. They rush downstairs after grabbing their guns.

"Who is there?!" Jennifer yells down the stairs. Pointing her gun to the open door. She looks downward and sees a figure on hands and knees in the doorway. "Oh my God, Dorothy?! Are you okay?" She sees blood pouring down Dora's arms and pooling on the tile, mixing with the radrain dripping from her hair.

Dorothy sits back on her legs, and Jennifer and Jessica have clear view of fresh cuts cris-crossing her inner arms. "Welp. I would be better if the Goddamn rain didn't follow me all the way home." Her voice is slurred, The sisters have never seen their boss this out of it.

"How many chems have you taken, Dora?" Jessica asks, taking what's left of the broken vodka bottle out of her hand, noticing all the blood on the sharp edges.

"I took everything I had on me. Was hoping for an overdose. Wasn't lucky enough I guess." She starts swaying and then falls sideways, back into the broken glass.

"And all these cuts on your arms? Also suicide attempts?" Jennifer scolds, picking the wet woman out of the floor with her sister's help.

"Yup! But the damn rain kept sealing it back up before it did any good." Jessica and Jennifer set the woman on her feet, and she stays upright for all of about 4 seconds before she tries to take a step and stumbles into the wall. The two ghouls catch her, and get on either side.

"Come on, we are taking you upstairs to bed."

"You know, most people would have taken it as a sign that it wasn't their time, but I see it as more of a one last "FUCK YOU!" from the universe." Dorothy slurs as her assistants carry her up the stairs.

"Dorothy, you aren't allowed to kill yourself." Jennifer says sweetly.

"Fuck you! I can kill myself if I want to." Dora yells, and tries to pull away, almost pulling the three of them down the stairs.

"You can't kill yourself. There are too many people who need you. Killing yourself would be selfish." Jessica adds. They make it to the top of the stairs and Dora throws herself on the floor.

"Selfish? When has this world ever done a single fucking good thing for me?!," She hiccups, and moves her bloody hand to her mouth like she almost threw up, "I have lost everything I have ever cared about, and I am so **FUCKING SICK** of trying to pretend like I am fine!"

The two girls sit in the floor with her, rubbing her back. Trying to comfort their boss and friend.

" **I AM NOT. FUCKING. FINE.** Hell, I don't think I have ever been fine. If I was ever human, nobody ever treated me like it. Nobody except Lydia. But she is dead, so it doesn't even fucking matter anymore. Nothing matters anymore." She leans into Jessica's bony chest, she can feel her withered skin through the thin fabric. "I can't go on feeling like this anymore." She sobs harder. "At least I will be dead in three months anyway." Jessica and Jennifer look at each other, both looking for answers in the other.

"Why will you be dead in three months? We have a lot of your medicine stored up. You have another two years! At least! And that will give us enough time to find more supplies." Jessica exclaims. Dora laughs through her tears.

"Not any more. Used it all to fix a mistake. I used it to save a life that was actually worth saving."

"What the flying fuck happened to you these past three days?" Jennifer asked, scooting closer to the sopping wet, sobbing pile of emotions on the floor.

"I learned I ruined a great man's life by trying to kill him to avenge my sister, who he was actually friends with. I learned this by seeing my sister's dead body through his eyes, and by feeling his feelings. Oh and to top it off, it happened to be the same friend of my sister's that she had her heart set on me being with. She thought he was the man who was finally going to _fix me._ HA! Instead I tried to kill him, and then had to save him."

Jennifer and Jessica look at each other with wide eyes, "That sounds like an eventful three days." Jessica said.

"Tell me about it." Dora said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Was he hot?" Jennifer chimed in, Jessica looking at her in utter horror.

"He was in a coma, Jennifer." Dora said, turning her head up to look at her.

She raised an eyebrow and gave a smirk. "The question still stands."

Dora chuckled softly, "I got a little flustered while looking for injection sights, if that tells you anything" both girls gave an "ooooooo" in unison. Jennifer stands up, reaching for Dora's hand to help her up. Jessica follows them to their feet.

"Let's get you out of those wet clothes." Jennifer says, supporting Dora as they walk to her room.

"You should tell us about this guy. Like girl talk!" Jessica chimes, she loves this cheesy romantic kind of shit.

"Jess, that's not gonna help with the wet clothes situation." Jennifer quips with a wink. The three of them laugh, as they set Dora on the bed.

"Wet panties aren't the problem, it's the wet everything else." Jessica digs through Dora's drawers, looking for a new outfit. "Spill it, Dee! We want dirty details! Was he a blond haired, blue eyed, tall drink of water?"

Dora laughs as Jennifer lifts her shirt over her head, her hands automatically cover her midriff, her spots of withered skin that look so out of place on her otherwise human body. "He was once… He is a ghoul." Jenn and Jess look at each other, then at Dora, and let loose another unified "Oooooo" in a higher pitch this time.

"Girl, let me tell ya, having been around that block and every other block, ghouls are the best in the sack." She begins to point to the fingers on one hand with the other. "One: They are so happy that someone wants to fuck them they ALWAYS make sure you cum first. Two: They can go for fucking EVER! Three: The rough ridges on a ghoul's dick can rub things in your hoohah that you didn't even know existed. And that's not even all the reasons. You are just gonna have to try it." Jennifer reaches around behind Dora and unhooks her bra, and slides it off. "Damn, girl, you _were_ cold. Trying to stab me, here?"

Dora can't help but laugh a little. Jessica stands beside Jenn and slides the fresh new bra over Dora's cut up arms. She reaches behind her to clasp it. "Sometimes I miss having boobs. But then I remember bras and I change my mind." She lets Dora adjust it to be comfortable, then slides a new t-shirt over her head and arms. "Also with ghouls, they are the only ones that will live as long as you. You really could be together forever." Jessica returns to the closet to find new bottoms. "What is his name?"

"John. His name is John."

"Lay back." Jennifer orders, and Dora obliges, but it's more of a fall back onto the bed. "Feel free to pretend I am John, if that is what it will take to give you a new outlook on life." Dora laughs as Jennifer peels away her jeans and panties.

"Now, now, we don't need a wet spot on the bed." Jessica brings a fresh pair of panties and loose cloth pants, sliding them onto Dora carefully.

"You two are filthy." Dora mumbles.

"You were the one fondling a coma patient." Jenn retorts. Dora raises her head off the bed to shoot Jenn a glare. "I am not judging. I would have done the same damn thing."

They giggle together and Jenn helps Dora off of the bed. Jess pulls back the sheets, and they put her in the bed, then climb in on either side of her.

"You don't have to sleep with me. I am not going to try again."

"Good. But we are still gonna sleep with you." Jenn says, throwing a hot arm over Dora.

"Why? I am cold, and I will probably throw up on one of you during the night."

"Because you are like our third sister. The Third Muskateer. Third Charlie's Angel. We can't lose you any more than we could lose each other." Jess says, laying her arm right next to Jenn's. "But throw up on Jenn, if you have to" The Dora sandwich then falls asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, Jess and Jenn were the last two characters to introduce. And I have started the next chapter, the one you have all been waiting for. The awakening! ah!
> 
> Hope you still like it. I love seeing your kudos/views/subscribtions. They make me super happy. Hell, I probably would have abandoned it if I didn't have anyone waiting for the next chapter. Thank you!
> 
> Love,
> 
> -Jumb


	7. It's Alive!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song is "Save Yourself" - Stabbing Westward

Hancock slowly opened his eyes, _Am I in my office? Last think I remember I was at Sanctuary with Nora and the gang. Psychojet musta been much better than I thought._ He begins to hear voices, Nora, Nick, Curie, Fahrenheit.

"He is waking up! Guys! He is awake!" Nora screams, happy tears in her eyes as she appears in his field of vision. "Hey there Hancock! How are you feeling?"

He grumbles a little, "Why is everyone standing around me? I O.D. or sumthin?"

"Not exactly. But you were in a coma for about a week." Nora replies.

"What the hell happened to me?"

"It's kind of a long story. Are you sure you are feeling well enough for it now?"

"Yea, just get to tellin'"

Nora takes a big breath. "You had a seizure at dinner, and you wouldn't wake up. Curie had no idea what was wrong with you, but Nick had heard of a special ghoul doctor who lived in Diamond city before all of them were…you know. We went looking for information about this doctor and we heard about this woman named Lydia who was killed during that time." Hancock's breathe hitches at the mention of her name, and the memories that returned with it. "It turns out she wasn't the doctor, but the sister of the doctor. She was just the doctor's supplier of chems and medicine to Diamond City. But the person we were talking to just happened to be the guy who took over her job after she died. He told us where we could find the doctor, but also that she probably wouldn't help you, because she hated you with a fiery fucking passion." Hancock looked at Nora expectantly, a slightly hurt look on his face. "When we met the doctor, we learned that she hated you because she thought you were the one who murdered Lydia and her family, and also that she was the one who made the drug that turned you into a ghoul as an act of revenge, and that was the reason you were in a coma with two weeks to live unless she helped you." Hancock opened his mouth to speak, "shush. I am not done." He closed his mouth. "She agreed to help you if we could prove to her that you were innocent, which we did by hauling you into the Memory Den and taking her into your memories of Lydia." He tried to speak again, and was shushed yet again. "We don't know what she saw, I guess you do, but when she came out of the chair she was in hysterics about how you and Lydia were friends, your brother framed you, and she believed him, and general guilt about trying to kill you." He tried to speak again. "HANCOCK for fuck's sake, you can speak when I am done!" He pouted and let her finish. "We brought you here for your treatment, and here you are… Now I am done." Hancock took a moment to take it all in. He had tried so hard to block Lydia out of his mind. Thinking of her hurt too damn much. A hurt even the chems couldn't destroy.

"Where is Dorothy now?" Hancock asked setting up on the bed. "And why is my shirt off and pants undone?"

"Curie, Dorothy and I had to…um…give you a shot down there…Twice." Hancock raised the skin where his eyebrow would be and gave a wry smile. "How did you know her name? I never told you."

"Lydia talked to me about her a lot. I tried to find her after Lydia died, but I never could. Had no idea where to look. Where is she? I want to talk to her."

"She left after your treatment was done. But she left you this letter." Nora handed him the envelope. He opened it, and began to read the words.

* * *

John,

The first time I heard about you was from my sister, telling me about "My friend John", but I had no idea that was you until now. The next time was when I barged into Mayor McDonough's office, held him up against the wall by his throat and asked him which one of his goons murdered my family. He seemed hesitant to tell me, but after a few hits from the butt of my pistol he gave me a photo. A photo of you, his own brother, standing over the dead body of my dead sister. At the time, I believed him. I couldn't even fathom the possibility that he was framing you to save himself. I couldn't imagine siblings doing that to each other. I guess that is what he counted on. I thought I had my answer. My culprit. The cause of my pain. And I planned to bring you pain. I knew about your drug habit, and I used that to my advantage. I made the best drug I could come up with and laced it with a serum. A serum that created a ghoul. But an unstable ghoul. I knew you would need supplemental drugs afterwards, or you would die a slow death. That was what I wanted. I thought it was more like what I was feeling. The last time I heard about you, I heard you had changed your name to John Hancock, and taken control of Goodneighbor, making it a haven for the misfits and misunderstood. My lust for revenge waivered slightly at this news, but I just wrote it off as you trying to appease your guilt.

I am writing you this letter, because I was in your head, I felt what you felt when you held Lydia in your arms. You thought it was your fault. That the ghouls killed her to get to you, and thusly, get to your brother. But that wasn't it. That's what your brother wanted you to believe. What he wanted everyone to believe. Lydia was helping ghouls escape the city, she was campaigning for the rights of the ghouls in secret. Helping them get enough power to fight back. That's why he had her killed, she was standing in the way of his plan, and he had to get rid of her, and all the witnesses. It wasn't at all your fault. You had nothing to do with this. You were a victim in all of this. More of a victim than I ever was. Even after your fight with Lydia, she still cared for you. You were still her friend. She told me she was trying to think about how I would have talked to you to get you to see what I wanted, and she was going to "Embrace her inner Dorothy" to get through to you next time she saw you. She loved you as you loved her.

I also wanted to tell you how truly sorry I am for what I did to you. The anger you must feel could never even begin to compare with the guilt in my heart. And if you want to come enact your revenge. I welcome you, hell, I encourage you. Nora can tell you where to find me. But if you do plan to kill me, you should probably be quick about it, I plan to do it myself, and I don't want to beat you to it, if killing me is something you need.

-Dr. Dorothy Scott

* * *

"Fuck!" Hancock yells, jumping out of bed. "When did she leave?" He begins looking around the room, "And where are my clothes?"

"Hancock, sit down! You shouldn't be getting out of bed so soon." Nora stands to face him, trying to be intimidating. He places both hands on her shoulders. Trying to make it clear to her, he is being serious for once.

"Nora, listen to me"

_Shit. He never calls me by my name._

"I feel better than I have in years. But I need to get to her as quickly as I can." _If I tell her what the doc is planning she will try to come with me. This is something I need to do on my own._ "I need to see her. This is what Lydia would have wanted me to do."

"She left about a day ago. I can give you the location of her house. Just please be careful Hancock."

"I will, toots." He lets her go, Curie brings him all his clothes.

"We are gonna head back to sanctuary. If you need us for ANYTHING, radio me." Nora says, and Hancock gives her a swift nod, and the three of them leave the room. Only Hancock and Fahrenheit remain.

"I don't know what was in that letter, but by the look on your face, it's probably the same thing I picked up on when she left yesterday."

Hancock looked at her with darker eyes than normal, _am I too late?_

"She didn't seem very…together, Boss. I think I was the only one picking up on how much she was hurting. She never left your side the whole time she was here. She slept right in that chair beside you." Hancock was hurriedly putting his clothes back on, grabbing his spare shotgun and knife from his desk.

" I will be back soon. With any luck I will have company." He states as he bolts out of the office and down the stairs. Ignoring all of the pleasantries being thrown at him as he heads out of Goodneighbor and in the direction of the location on his map.

* * *

Hancock arrived at the Colonial-style house early in the morning. There was a sign on the door that said, "Sorry, we are CLOSED" He knocked anyway.

The door opened slowly, A ghoul in a nurses dress stuck her head through the crack. "Sorry sir, but we aren't open yet, unless this is an emergency." She had sprigs of brown hair on her head under her nurse's hat. More than most ghoul's have.

"Are you Dorothy?" Hancock asked, slightly out of breath from the swift pace he kept all the way here. The woman laughed, and opened the door a little wider.

"No, my name is Jessica, Dr. Dee probably won't be in the office today. She is a little…under the weather."

"So she is alive?" Hancock lets out a large breathe, Jessica narrows her eyes.

"Not for lack of trying" Jessica mumbles under her breath. "Who are you?"

"Name's Hancock. John Hancock. Can I speak to Dorothy?"

 _John? THE John?_ She opens the door. A voice rings out from further inside the house. "Jess? Who is at the door?"

"It's John!"

"John? THE John? Holy fuck!" Another ghoul in a dress rounds the corner, she has less hair, but similar facial features to the other woman, she moves next to Jessica, and blatantly looks Hancock over, and leans into Jessica's ear, throwing her hand in front of her mouth so Hancock can't hear, "Damn, Dora was right, he is fine." The two giggle.

"Ahem." Hancock interrupts. "I am assuming you aren't Dorothy either. And I don't appreciate you two talking about me right in front of me."

"Well, excuse us mister grumpy pants." Jennifer retorts. "You want to see Dee, I guess?"

"Yes." He responds, happy someone is finally acknowledging him.

About that time, a figure begins to descend the staircase. "Why are you two down here clucking like hens this early? Some people are trying to nurse hangovers here." Jessica and Jennifer notice red liquid all over her arms and sweater, they begin to run to her,

"Dora! Fuck! You promised!" Jenn yells. Dora holds up her hands.

"Chill. I tripped over a paint can." Dora raises her eyes from the sisters to the figure behind them, and her breath catches in her throat. He was wearing a long red frock coat like something from a colonial costume. Complete with the black tricorn hat. If she thought he was attractive before, he was damn breathtaking now. _Yep. This is the best way to die. Killed by a beautiful man._ He steps towards her, through the two girls, who are now standing like they are watching a movie play out.

"Listen, dollface, I know you think I am here to kill you. But that's not really my style. Ya feel me? I came to make sure you were still breathin' cause I have somethin' I wanna show ya."

Jennifer leans into Jessica's ear, "Oh dear God, his voice is like gravelly sex." She whispers.

"I know and he called her dollface. How hot is that?" Jess responded with a smirk.

Dora's mouth dropped open a little. _Did he just call me doll face?_ "What do you have to show me?"

"Well, I guess you will just have to come with me and find out." Hancock says with a smirk. Dora starts to move down the stairs.

"Oh and where will we be going?" Dora stumbles as she gets to the bottom of the stairs. Hancock lunges forward and grabs her wrists to keep her from falling on her face. He looks at her forearms in his hands and sees all of the cuts that are healing up. _Damn, the girls weren't kidding when they said she really tried._ But all Dora is thinking about is the proximity of him to her, and his rough hands on her arms. _Shit. I have to get these fucking hormones under control, this is ridiculous._

"Be careful there, toots." He helps her get steady on her feet. "And we will be headin' to Goodneighbor." Dora pulled her sleeves down over her wrists, where they were supposed to be.

"Do you think she is still that fucked up, or did she just want him to catch her?" Jenn whispers to Jess, and Jess shrugs.

"My guess is she is hungover from the alcohol and high as a kite. You know she takes jet for breakfast. Also, she doesn't seem like the type to fake a fall for a cute guy to catch her." Jess reasons and Jenn pouts.

"Yeah you are right. That's something I'd do."

Dora puts her hand on her neck _I can't believe that still hurts this much._ "Alrighty then, Let's get going."

"You sure you are good?" Hancock asks, worrying about the wobbly woman beside him.

"Yeah. Peachy." She walks towards Jess and Jenn who try their best to look like they weren't watching them like hawks. "Is there anything you two need from me before I head out?"

"I dunno boss, is there anything you need from me?" Jenn reaches into her dress, showing Dora what appears to be the corner of a condom. Dora smacks her hand, and points at her.

"You stop that!" She looks at Jessica barely containing her giggles, "And you stop encouraging her!" Jessica forces her smile down. "You know I don't even need those. Now seriously, anything I should know?"

"Well, the family with the sick grandma came in earlier this morning. Paid with a big box of Jet. It's sitting next to the door, if you want some. Daniel radioed and said he was coming by today. Want me to get him to sell the rest of it?" Jenn says, tucking her condom back in her dress.

"Yeah that would be great. Thanks Jenn. Jess."

"No problem, Dee. You go have a good time." Dora nods, _there isn't such a thing for me anymore._

Dora turns back to Hancock, who is just watching her with his dark eyes. "Let's get going, then." She heads towards the door, reaching into the box on the floor to grab an inhaler. "Feel free to help yourself." Hancock looks at the box of chems on the ground, but decides against taking one, for now.

"Free chems for houseguests? This is my kinda place." Dora smirks at him, buckling her pistol holster around her waist, and throwing her rifle over her shoulder as she heads out the door. Hancock follows her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, not entirely sure if I am happy with this chapter. I guess just let me know what you think. I hope its good and I am just doing the thing where I hate anything remotely creative I do immediately after I do it.
> 
> Love,
> 
> -Jumb


	8. .... Like They Could Cut Glass

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song is "This Calling" -All that Remains

As they walk through the wastes, they stay relatively silent at first. Hancock is analyzing the mysterious woman walking in front of him. She isn't wearing much armor, just a long sleeved sweater and jeans, _Smoothskin like her should have more protection than that. Is it because she is still tryin' to die?_ He looks her over, Can't help but notice her pistol bouncing on her hip as her ass sways with each step. Most of her hair in in a bun, but strands of her hair are falling out, some of them are red and stuck together, _Must be from her dip in paint she mentioned._ He looks to her hands, where most of the red paint is beginning to rub away. He remembers her coming down the stairs. _Beautiful. Beautiful blue eyes. But hollow._ He remembers how they brightened when they made contact with his. _She thought I was here to kill her, was she that excited to die?_ He stops his thoughts of her when she stops in front of him, and extends her hand outward signaling him to stop as well.

"What is –" He is cut off by her turning around and holding a finger to her mouth, fear in her eyes. She mouths the words 'Don't move'. He obliges, and there is a moment where they are both standing in silence, immobile. Then she mouths 'Shit' and runs to crouch behind a nearby rock, and Hancock follows her. The two are crouched with their backs to the rock. Hancock opens his mouth to speak, but is met with a soft finger on his lips. She mouths 'weapons?' He holds up his shotgun and opens his coat slightly to show her his knife. She exhales deeply. 'fuck', and puts a hand to her head. She quietly takes her rifle from her back and into her hands, clicking the safety off. She picks a baseball-sized rock up from in front of them. 'When I throw this, you run.' _What the hell is going on?_ Hancock wonders, _Is she hallucinating?_ But ne nods, _Whatever she thinks she sees, she is scared of it._

Dora throws the rock, and Hancock runs as he was told to. Hearing Dora's steps behind him. Then heavy thuds, he turns around to look and he sees a deathclaw appear from nowhere right behind them. Where Dora threw the rock. _Holy shit! Was that thing invisible?_ The deathclaw turns around to face them, hearing their footsteps, and begins to chase. Dora turns and begins to fire at its belly and legs, hoping to slow it down enough for them to get away. Hancock contemplates firing as well, but he knows his shotgun won't reach that far, not without hitting Dora as well. He turns to focus on running.

Seconds later he turns back to look at Dora, running backwards, still firing at the creature. Creating distance between them. But she gets her foot hung on a loose root and falls to the ground, Hancock sees a sharp rock cut through her sweater and deep into her left side, Her screaming as her blood spills on the ground.

"Fuck!" Hancock turns around and runs towards her, grabbing her arms as he pulls her body off of the rock, spilling more blood on the ground. They begin to run, but the deathclaw has almost caught up to them, Dora sees a small pond ahead on the right. She pulls her sweater over her head, and uses it to soak up the blood as they run.

"What the fuck do we do?!" Hancock yells.

"You trust me!" She yells back, She throws her sweater far ahead of them, her blood leaving a trail across the ground. She grabs his hand and pulls them both into the pond. She doesn't let go of his hand as they go underwater. The pond is shallow enough that their feet reach the bottom, Hancock starts to stand, but Dora pulls him back down. The water is very dirty. He can barely see her face, but he sees her shake her head. After a few seconds, they slowly stand up, just enough so that their noses (or lack thereof) are out of the water. She looks at him with frantic eyes, and clutches his hand tight. _She is telling me not to move._ At that moment, the deathclaw runs by the pond, and stops. It looks in their direction, then back left, leaning close to the ground, and then runs off. _It is going after her sweater. It is following the blood._ It stops at Dora's sweater, sniffing it. Then it suddenly disappears. Hancock turns his head to look at Dora, who gives him a stern look and an almost painful grip on the hand.

A few minutes later Dora raises her mouth out of the water, and releases Hancock's hand, "It's gone." With those words, Hancock's adrenaline changes direction, He grabs Dora's shoulders and pulls her out of the water.

"You are bleeding! You need a stimpak, where are they?" Another realization hits. "Oh, fuck, all those rads, where is the radaway?!" He begins digging in his belongings hoping he has some.

Dorothy grabs his arm. "Hancock. Relax"

"No" He continues searching frantically.

"HANCOCK!" She grabs his shoulders. "I am fine."

He looks at her, "I am not going to let you kill yourself."

"No, Hancock. I am literally fine." She spreads the slit in her tanktop showing him the sealed up cut on her side, which is now just a thin red line.

"I don't…." _understand._

"The rads. They fixed that shit right up."

"But you are a smoothskin. That doesn't make sense." Hancock begins to come down from his adrenaline rush.

"I may _have_ smooth skin, but I am not one." Hancock raises what would have been an eyebrow. "Oh, you want storytime? Right now?" Hancock looks at her arms, all the cuts that were there earlier are completely gone now, not even scars. _How is that even possible?_ Dora stands up, making sure her undershirt doesn't pull up. "I am a ghoul, just like you are. I just don't look like one. I can explain how later if you still wanna listen." Hancock stands up beside her.

"All the benefits, none of the downsides?" Hancock asks, half joking, turning to face her, and gives her a slight smile.

"Well, the whole immortality thing kinda sucks right about now." Dora turns away from him and starts walking towards Goodneighbor again. Hancock's smile disappears. He grabs her arm and she turns back towards him.

"Why do you wanna die so badly?"

"I dunno, seems like a fun thing to do. Plus, it's kind of fun to play the 'How much Jet can I take before I don't wake up' game." She smiles at him as she turns away.

 _So that's what Lydia meant. Hiding in sarcasm._ He pulls her arm, turning her back towards him. "I am serious."

She looks him straight in the eyes, "So am I."

"That may work on most people, but I am not most people."

She moves her eyes from his, "Why do you want to live?"

He gives her a smirk, "That's not gonna work either, toots." She returns her eyes to his, and takes a deep breath.

"Because, Hancock, learning what I did to you made me question who I even was, and upon further inspection, I realized that I didn't deserve to live. Which was fine with me, because I was sick of filling my emptiness with chems and hatred anyway." She rips her arm away from him, "You happy now?"

"No!" his dark eyes completely serious, "You didn't do shit to me, so you can't blame it on that! You may have tried to kill me, but you also saved me, so as far as I'm concerned, that's fucking even!"

"I made you a fucking ghoul! You are forgetting that minor detail! I ruined your life!"

He grabs her shoulders, "No. You. Didn't. I knew exactly what that drug was gonna do. That was why I took it. I couldn't stand the person I was, and I didn't want to see his face anymore. This was my choice!" She blinks softly, looking up at him.

"Why?" She asked, almost a whisper, and he puts his arms down.

"The same reason as you." He turns and starts to walk again. She follows behind him.

A few moments later she sprints to walk beside him, and looks over, "As long as we are being honest here, if you hadn't taken it willingly, I was gonna blowgun your ass."

He looks at her. _There is that brightness again._ She is smirking at him. _And what a beautiful smile._ He laughs. "I wouldn't expect anything less." Her smile gets wider.

* * *

"So, was that your first experience with a Chameleon?" Dora asks, breaking the silence.

"Yeah. Always thought they were a myth. Never seen one. Never heard from anybody who had seen one and lived to tell about it." He pauses for a moment, "How did you know it was there?"

"They can cloak their bodies, but they can't cloak their smell. Deathclaws always smell like rancid rotting meat. Worse than any other animal." Hancock looked at her in disbelief.

"I didn't smell anything"

"Only because you didn't know what you were smelling for. You have the ability as a ghoul, but learning to use it…well…It's an acquired talent." Dora gives him a cocky smile. He shakes his head.

"Why the quick swim?"

"We got lucky that the pond was there." She laughs. "They have excellent smell and hearing. Not so great eyesight. When we were in the water it couldn't smell us anymore, but it could smell my blood on the sweater I threw, so it followed that instead of us."

"That's some quick thinkin'." He smirks and steps closer to her.

"Thank ya. Gotta be all the mentats." She reaches into her back pocket and pulls out a tin and shakes it at him. "Want some?" He takes a tablet from the tin.

"How can I say no to that face?" Dora rolls her eyes, and takes one for herself. Hancock places his under his tongue, and Dora does the same.

* * *

As they walk into Goodneighbor, Dora feels like everyone is looking at her, and that's because they are. Everyone they pass greets the Mayor, and he seems to know everyone. They also seem to want to catch a look at the fresh face being escorted through town by the Mayor himself.

"Why do you have to be so Goddamn popular?" Dora whispered to Hancock.

"What can I say? Must be my striking personality and stunning good-looks." He turns to look at her, "Why? You not enjoyin' all the attention?"

"Well, I don't particularly enjoy the idea of an entire town seeing my nipples, but, to each his own I guess." Hancock can't help but look down. _Yep. Nipples._ He had forgotten about the fact that without her sweater she was only left with a thin tank top, and they had also taken a dip in a pond. He quickly looks back up, and hopes she didn't notice his fact-check. The look on her face says she noticed, but didn't seem to mind. "I don't know if it is more embarrassing for everyone to see my nipples, or everyone seeing me trying to hide said nipples. Is it more acceptable for me to be a slut or a pussy in this town?"

He laughs, "You know. I have never thought about it like that." He begins to take off his coat.

"Woah, woah. I can't wear your coat either!"

"Why not?"

"Because then everyone will think we are fucking, which will only make them inspect my nipples further, to see if they are up to par with their standards for their mayor." Hancock finishes removing his coat and hands it to her.

"Sunshine, if they think you are with me, they wouldn't dare look at you like that." She takes the coat from his hand and puts it on, it doesn't close in the front (the most preferred option), but it does cover the spot in question.

"And why is that?" Dora says, smirking at him, looking him over. _I love the coat, but shirt, pants and hat isn't anything to scoff at._ She smiles internally. _Let's face it. I'd like looking at him in anything…or nothing._ She quickly averts her thoughts, blushing is the last thing she needs right now. _I am surrounded by the smell of him. It's, kind of wonderful._

"Because usually people want to keep their eyes." Hancock looked at the woman, standing in front of him. _Damn. My coat looks good on her._ He had let women borrow his clothes after sex, but never the coat. That was special. It was part of what made him Hancock. But then again, none of those women ever saved his life, or made him laugh like Dora did. She was standing in front of him. Smiling at him. Beautiful. Sexy. Not asking for a damn thing from him. Or from anyone. Maybe she wasn't actually his, but he liked the idea of people thinking she was. He liked the idea of it in general, even if it wouldn't happen. _A man can dream can't he?_

When they came into the statehouse, Hancock moves up the stairs first. He sees Fahrenheit at the door to his office, she narrows her eyes at him. _Where is his coat?_ She starts to ask how things went when both her questions are answered simultaneously. Dorothy in Hancock's coat comes into her field of vision and she stifles a smile. _Damn boss, you work quick._ "Welcome back Boss, doctor."

Hancock moves to his desk, and opens a drawer. He pulls out a shirt, and hands it to Dora. "Figured you might feel a lil' more comfortable in this."

As much as she will miss being surrounded by the scent of Hancock, it is true, she will be more comfortable in just a new shirt. "Thank you." She removes the coat and hands it back to him. She pretends not to notice his glance at her chest as she takes the fresh dry shirt. She makes a spinning motion with her finger, and Hancock turns his back to her. She lifts the wet tanktop over her head and drops it to the ground. Hancock hears the wet shirt hit the ground, and his heart beats faster. He tries to keep control of his thoughts, despite the half-naked woman a foot away from him. Dora slides the shirt on, and buttons it up. _I guess a button up is better than what I had, right?_

"Okay, I am decent." Hancock turns back around, a little sad that there is no more nipples to be seen, but happy that she is happy.

"Okay come with me."

"Where are we going?"

"My store room" Hancock opens the door, It's a room filled with boxes, documents, bricks of precious metals. All the things one would expect in a store room. He moves to a wall and removes a wooden chest, he sits it on the ground in front of Dora.

"What is this?" looking from the box, back to Hancock.

"That belongs to you." He took a breath. "After Lydia died, I tried to find you. But I had no idea where to even begin." He looks at the wall, "I wasn't in a great state of mind that day, but I couldn't just let her things be taken by whoever broke in first. There is a letter on the very top with your name on it. I took that from the table. I never read it. The rest was already in the box. Her box. She told me once that it was a box of keepsakes. All the things she cared about." Dora's eyes began to tear up at the realization of what he was saying. She sat down in the floor in front of the box. She slowly lifted the top.

Just as he said, there was a letter on top. Her name, in Lydia's hand writing. She began to cry. She sat the letter to the side. She wanted to read that last. She began to look at all the items in the box. Most were art by Natalie & Ryan. A lot of things that didn't make sense to her, pressed flowers, pages of books. There were some personal notes from Nathan. Then she came across her mother's turquoise necklace, and she started to sob. Hancock stepped toward her, and crouched down beside her. He didn't know what to say, or if he should even be involved in this moment, but he puts his arm across her shoulders anyway.

He is taken by surprise when she turns her face into his chest, and throws her arm round his waist. Careful not to disturb her he moves his legs so that he is sitting on the floor beside her. Her face in his shoulder, one of her hands clutching his coat, the other- the necklace. _Should I say something, should I wait for her to say something? Do I need to do something? Fuck. I don't know how this works._

A moment later she swallows. "This necklace has been in our family for generations. It was always given to the first born girl to wear on her wedding day. She then had the choice to give it to her sister, or wait and give it to her first daughter." She pauses, and Hancock rubs her shoulder, "It was supposed to be mine. I was six years older than Lydia. I knew I was never going to use it, and Lydia was engaged to Nathan. I gave it to her. I didn't think I would ever see it again. Nothing like this lasts long in this world."

"I don't know what to say, doll."

"You don't have to say anything." She wipes her tears and leans back towards the box. She is almost to the bottom when she sees something that stops her in her tracks. She leans back into Hancock, with a photograph in her hand. Hancock looks at the photo. It is of two women, one of them is Lydia.

"Who is that?" Hancock asks, and Dora laughs lightly.

"That's me." Hancock looks at her in disbelief. The girl in the photo looked nothing like the woman he knows. Nothing except the eyes. They weren't as blue in the picture. But the same eyes. Dora can feel his shock. "I know. That was me before I made myself a ghoul. I lost one hundred and forty pounds in a day and a half. I knew it would put me into peak physical condition, but I didn't know it would do it so quick." She laughed. "I was the fat sister, with the bad acne and a bitchy personality."

"You were still beautiful. You were still you." Hancock said softly. Dora turned to look at him, and smile. This smile was different that the ones he usually sees, it wasn't exaggerated. He wasn't even sure she knew she was doing it. This one was real.

She leaned to the side of the box, where she laid the letter, and opens it.

* * *

Dora,

I don't know how much longer I have. I know McDonough is going to have me killed, I just don't know when. There have been men outside my house for three days. I don't know what they are waiting for, but I hope it doesn't have anything to do with John.

I haven't seen him in a while. We got in a fight. I called him on his bullshit, and he didn't like it, he basically said I meant nothing to him and ran off. The same way you did when I told you that you were an idiot for still pining after Greg after what he did to you. You didn't talk to me for months after that. I knew he was going to react the same, but it had to be done.

After I am gone, I want you to find each other. I kept telling you that you should meet him, and I told him the same thing. He had about as much respect for my matchmaking capabilities as you did when I first mentioned him to you. But as you would say: "Fuck that"

I want you to find each other, because I know that once I am gone you are going to bury yourself even deeper in your own bullshit until you don't even remember who you are, and I don't want that. You need someone who sees you, even through all the walls you put up to keep people out. You don't even have to be lovers, (Even though that would be awesome.) You can just be friends. You should take my place in each other's lives.

When I look down at you from heaven, if I see you wallowing in self-pity, or trying to kill yourself, I swear to God, I will find some way to strike you down. I want you to continue to live your life. Help the people that need you. If you change just one life, that is worth it. Go save the world, Dora. Do it for me.

With all the love in the world,

-Lyd

P.S. If you follow my orders and see John, please tell him that I know he was just being a stubborn asshole when we last saw each other, and that I never once saw him as anything other than my friend, I loved him like my own brother.

* * *

Dora folds the letter so that all that is visible is the part to Hancock and shows it to him. As he reads the short section, his breath catches in his throat and he closes his eyes, holding back the tears of sadness and relief. Dora feels him tense up, she knows exactly what he is doing, she is doing it too, and Lydia wouldn't want them to.

She moves so that she is in between his legs, he doesn't even realize until she leans back against his chest. She grabs his arms and wraps them around her. She whispers. "Let it go. She wants us to let it go." His arms tighten around her, and he feels her body heave as she starts to cry, and he can't hold it anymore. He doesn't want to hold it anymore. He begins to cry into the corner of her neck. He can't even remember the last time he cried. Much less cried in front of someone. But for some reason, holding her, crying with her, it just feels…right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well. There it is. fluff. all sorts of fluff (that's the right word right?). and rising sexual tension. Hope you like it. I am doing my best here. =)
> 
> Love,
> 
> -Jumb


	9. The Modern Prometheus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains fluff and sexual tension, but nothing I would really consider smut. Sorry. It's coming eventually tho. Patience my friends. I make reference to two classic stories in this chapter. One of which is the story of Oedipus, the other is Frankenstein (or the Modern Prometheus). You could do a quick search for the two stories if you don't know the basic premise, but really, it's not necessary to know about the stories to understand the conversation.
> 
> Song for this Chapter:: "The One" -Limp Bizkit

The both of them went silent quite a while ago. Dora has no idea how long they have been sitting here like this, surrounded by her sister's things. She really loves his arms around her, his warmth engulfing her. His scent. His presence. Maybe it's because it was such a tender moment, that began with them both in tears, but despite the fact that their bodies are intertwined, it doesn't feel like a sexual thing. She isn't getting flustered over this, she just feels content. _Is this the friendship we are supposed to have?_

Hancock is just focusing on the movement of her body as she breathes. Her warm breath on his arms. The tickle of her loose hairs against his face and neck. It had been so long since he had a beautiful woman in his arms like this. He won't risk any movements for fear that she might change her mind. He refuses to think about her body pressed against his. This wasn't supposed to be like that. He won't make it like that, because just sitting together in silence on the cold floor is somehow better than that. _I am not going to make the same mistake again. I am not going to trick myself into believing that there is something more in this moment than just comfort in the nearest person. Not again. Not this time._

As much as she hates it, she knows they have to break this position eventually. She moves so that she can reach into her belongings and remove the jet she grabbed earlier, she returns to her spot against him as she lightly shakes the device. She holds it over her right shoulder, where Hancock is resting his head. He lifts his arm, and puts his hand over hers on the inhaler. He squeezes her hand, depressing the canister inside. She hears the spray and his inhale right next to her right ear. She feels his chest expand against hers as he holds the chemicals in his lung for a moment. When he lets it go, it's right next to her ear. She feels the warm mix of spent jet and his breath against her face. _He is looking at me._

His hand still over hers, he guides the inhaler to her mouth. He watches her open her mouth and place her soft pink lips over the opening, where his were seconds ago. He squeezes her hand, and watches her chest rise with her breath. She holds it in her lungs, even longer than he can, and calmly exhales.

He breaks the silence, before he gets too caught up in the visual. He is beginning to lose his grip on the situation. "Damn, sister. Never met a lady who could hit Jet better than me. You handle the burn like a pro."

She laughs and turns her head so she can see his face out of the corner of her eye, "That's because I am a pro. Believe it or not, the burn of the Jet is much easier to handle than the tickle of great weed. For me at least." His eyes seem to twinkle. _The Jet is kicking in. For both of us._

"You have actually tried marijuana? I always read about it in books and wondered what it was like." He sees her curious expression "everything I have ever tried has been chemical or from some nasty place you don't even want to think about. The idea of a drug coming from a plant is just too damn cool" She can't help but be amazed at the wonder in his eyes.

 _He is like a kid being told about candy. It's adorable._ She leans into his ear (or where it would be), "You wanna know a secret?" He nods his head, her lips are so close to his skin he swears he can feel their warmth. "I have some. Kept some seeds safe through the war. Was able to finally get some to grow not too long ago. Peyote too. Haven't been as successful with the mushrooms, yet." He looks at her in awe, and she smiles softly. "And since I like you so much, you are invited to partake with me, if you'd like."

Hancock had to stop and breathe for a moment. He had a gorgeous woman in between his legs, who just offered him rare and exotic drugs, just because 'she likes him'. _I don't think I woke up from that coma. I think I am still in it. That is the only logical explanation._

"John? Are you okay?" her voice saying his name brought him from his thoughts, and back to her. She had moved so that she was sitting across from him, looking at him. _When did that happen?_

"Yea, Just thinking of how lucky I got." He stands up and extends his hand down towards her. Helping her off the floor. She picks up the letter and the photo and puts them in her pocket. The rest she returns to the box.

"Can I leave that here? It will be safer here with you."

"Yeah, Fahrenheit will keep it safe while I am gone." She looks up at him, raising an eyebrow.

"You aren't staying here?"

"Nah, darlin'. You are still on suicide watch. I take my job very serious." His smirk becomes more serious. "You seem to do good work for people. Also seems like you don't get much help. Goodneighbor is fine without me. Nora is fine without me. I'd like to come help you out."

"You wanna be a nurse?" Dora put her hand on her hip, a wry smile crosses her lips.

"Not exactly what I had in mind. Not sure I could pull off that little nurse dress" Dora laughs, but Hancock remains semi-serious. "Lydia told me you traveled from place to place. You shouldn't do that alone."

"Oh, so you want to guard me on my rounds? You will still have to help me in medical emergencies." She seems to look into the distance. "This is good. This way Jess and Jenn won't feel compelled to come with me, and they can keep the office open."

"I would be honored to be your nurse and bodyguard, doctor."

"You are coming home with me then?" She gives him a playful smirk.

"Only if you take me to dinner first. I am a classy lady after all." She rolls her eyes and gives him a push out the door.

* * *

As they exited the town, people continued to speak to Hancock. Normal niceties. Average small talk. Dora didn't really pay much attention to it until one ghoul caught her eye. As he spoke to Hancock, he kept moving his eyes to the sides, back and forth, from Hancock to the space beside Hancock. As soon as he appeared he began to walk away and Hancock continued on as well, but Dora grabbed his arms.

"Hey, Hancock"

"Yeah, sister?"

"Does that guy do any drugs a lot? Radaway maybe?" He narrows his eyes.

"No nothing like that. Straight edge kinda guy. Not really the Goodneighbor type, but who am I to judge. And why would a ghoul have any use for radaway?"

"If I talk to him, do you think he will listen to me?" She has a look of concern in her eyes. Looking at the citizen's back as he walked away.

"Yea. If I tell him you can be trusted, he should believe you." Hancock looked back at the man, almost out of shouting distance, "Hey Joe! Wait up, I got somethin' to talk to ya about." Joe stops in his tracks, hearing the Mayor's summons, and begins to head back towards them.

"Hey Mayor, what can I do for you?" Dora watches his eyes dart back and forth, and notices he is swaying, like balance is hard.

"This here is my friend Dorothy. She is a doctor. She'd like to take a look at you if you don't mind." The man chuckles, and looks to Dora, eyes still jittering,

"Well, I appreciate the concern, but I don't think I need a doctor."

Dora smiles at him. Large. Comforting. "It will only take a second. Do you mind if I take a look at your hands."

"My hands? I don't know why you want to see those" He asks, but holds out his hands for her. She looks at his fingernails, and sees lines of red in strata across them. All evenly spaced. Like the stripes of a candy cane.

"Okay, let me see if I have this right. You are having trouble keeping your balance, for some unknown reason. You also have a dark spot in the middle of your eyes, making you have to look to the side to see something clearly. It began as just a dot, and got bigger. You are probably chocking it up to age, or rationalizing that it's no big deal. But it's not normal." Joe's eyes widen, like she had just confirmed a fear. Hancock just watches the interaction, thoroughly confused. "Is there anything you put in your body the same time everyday? Food? Drink? Drug?"

He clears his throat, "Um. I have a cup of tea every morning"

"Does someone make it for you?" His eyes narrow, wondering what she is insinuating.

"Yes. My assistant. I don't know what you are implying here, she is like a daughter to me."

"Well, Joe. I am just telling you what I see. And what I see is blindness caused by prolonged exposure to semi-toxic heavy metals. These metals are also deposited in your fingernails as thin lines, the face that yours are red, leads me to believe that it is radaway. Its not lethal, but it's sure as hell not good for ghouls. Especially if ingested rather than injected." She takes a deep breath, "I have seen this multiple times before. Some people seem to think that enough radaway can reverse the ghoul process. Others think that enough can kill a ghoul. Neither are true. It will just make you blind. She may think she is trying to help you, that's not my place to know. I am just here to tell you what is happening. If you stop your exposure now you might get your sight back. I can check how bad it is if you want."

He waits a moment before replying, trying to wrap his head around all this information. " ye-yes. I want to know if I can get my sight back."

"Okay. I need you to look straight ahead. Straight at me. And don't move your eyes." She moves directly in front of his face. And puts her hands up in front of her. "Let me know when you can see my hands." She begins to move her hands slowly outward, and he tells her to stop when they have just gone past her ears. "Okay. That's not too bad. You should be able to get it back. Talk to your assistant if you want, I would definitely stop drinking the tea either way." She smiles at him. He moves his eyes so that he can see her. "Increasing your rad intake might help it move along quicker. Take a swim. Play in a rad storm. Eat some shady food." She laughs, and he joins her.

"Thank you. I had no idea." He leans in and hugs her. And she embraces him back. Hancock looks at them, surprised to see such emotion from the man he knows to be as calm and collected as they come. Also to see Dora smile like she had changed the world. _I guess she did change the world. For Joe at least._ The two separate.

"No problem. It's my job. I am Dr. Dorothy. I am a doctor for ghouls." She reaches into her bag and pulls out a paper. "Here is how to find me if you or anyone else needs me." He takes a moment to inspect the card. "It says here you visit Diamond City on Tuesdays? I thought you were a ghoul doctor? And there is no day for Goodneighbor."

"I am a ghoul doctor. There are still ghouls in Diamond City. They just don't really like people to know that, if you know what I'm sayin'." She laughs and glances at Hancock, who is looking at her like she just saved a life right in front of him. "And I have decided I am going to add a Goodneighbor day to my schedule. I will let you know which day it will be when I figure it out." She looks back at John, who now has a big smile across his lips. "Take it easy Joe. Get better soon." She shakes his hand, and turns to leave. Hancock close behind her. Grinning at her like an idiot.

"Would you stop looking at me like that? You are acting like I just brought someone back from the dead." She looks up at him. Faking annoyance.

"I am sure you could do that too." He steps closer to her, so that they are brushing together as they walk. "And you are adding my little town to your busy schedule?"

She notices her bare skin that is now brushing against his soft coat. _Did he do that on purpose?_ "Of course. I go anywhere the patients might need me."

"You never did before."

"Because I hated you." She laughs.

"Hat _ed?_ Past tense?"

She looks at her feet and shakes her head, "Yeah. Past tense."

He throws his right arm around her waist, "So I'm growin' on ya?" She looks up, the sun shining on the lower half of his face, his hat shadowing the rest.

She cracks a smirk at his cocky smile. "Uhhuh. Something like that."

* * *

Jess is sorting files in a small room in the office when she hears the front door open, and voices talking, laughing. _Is that really Dora? I don't think I have ever heard her laugh like that. Ever._ She decides to listen in on them.

"No, no, no, Oedipus doesn't deserve the title. He made a series of bad decisions, and didn't own up to them. He fucked his own mother, man."

"He didn't know it was his mother! And when he learned the truth he stabbed his own eyes out. He was more than your everyday mother fucker." Dora laughs, loudly. Snorting at the end.

"Okay. Points for that pun. But that was where he went wrong! They had four kids. Jocasta hanging herself was bad enough, him blinding himself is just gonna remind those kids that even their parents think they are an abomination. They should have just lived with what they had done. Not like they could un-fuck. Thus, even he didn't see himself as more than a motherfucker, so he isn't really misunderstood at all."

"Okay, then who do _you_ think is the most misunderstood character?" Jess sees through the crack in the door that Hancock's arm is around her waist, and she is smiling up at him. _Oh my God, this is the cutest fucking thing I have ever seen._ Jess restrains a squeal. She sees Dora step out of his arm and turn to face him. Putting her hands up. _She is going into lecture mode. This will be fun._

"Easy. Mary Shelley's monster. He is the Goddamn definition of misunderstood. He is the sweetest fucking guy in the world, but in the book everyone hates him and tries to murder him just because he happens to be made of stitched together body parts. Even the people who read the book think he is just a monster."

"They make the argument that he _did_ murder people. The doctor's wife was innocent, but he killed her."

"If the Doctor hadn't been a whiny little bitch and abandoned the person he made, that wouldn't have happened! He had plenty of opportunities to own up to his sins, and actually accept the creature he had created, but he still ran from it. And it bit him in the ass."

"But whats-her-face didn't have anything to do with it. She was just an innocent person."

"If you were the monster, can you really say you would have done anything different? Nobody ever showed him any kind of compassion. Nobody taught him right from wrong, he wanted to make the doctor suffer for his crimes the best way he knew how." Dora is getting louder, moving her hands as she talks, like she is giving a sermon. Jenn watches as Hancock approaches Dora, she drops her hands.

"You feel very strongly about this don't you?" He says softly, almost too low for Jess to hear, but she sees Dora's face get redder, and she steps back again. Raising her hand for another sermon. But Hancock gently grabs it.

"Hey. I am fucking with you." Her eyes narrow, as she relaxes her hand into his. "I agree with you. I hate that an innocent woman had to get caught in the crossfire. But that poor guy never asked for any of what he got. He deserved love. I understand what he did. I probably would have done the same thing if I were him." Jess watches the two figures standing in the office, her hand still gripped in his and suspended in air in between them. _I get the feeling this isn't about Frankenstein anymore._ As they stare at each other, the temperature seems to rise within the silence. _Damn. I can feel the tension from here. Why doesn't he just fucking kiss her? Obviously they both want it._ A second passes, and Jennifer begins to come down the stairs, the sound of footsteps breaks their trance, and they separate. Dora shakes her head a little bit. Hancock visibly sighs. _Dammit Jenn!_ Jessica thinks, and realizes that they are both trying to shake off what just happened, and deny to themselves what is going on. _Idiots._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said before. you don't need to know the stories, what is important is that they are discussing books, and that Dora is trying to figure out whether she is the monster or the doctor. Also. I highly recommend reading the book. Movies never get it right. Frankenstein gets a bad rep.
> 
> Love,
> 
> Jumb


	10. Reefer Madness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took a while to update, I am no longer writing in chapters, I am just writing, and that is bringing in the problem of "Where is a good place to break this?" And guess what guys?!
> 
> This chapter contains mild smut! =0
> 
> Hope it is good. I liked writing it.
> 
> Song for the Chapter: "Disgusting" -Kesha (Not the iCarly version. The Kesha adult version. lol)

_Shit. Shit. Shit. I overstepped. What the fuck was I thinking? John. She doesn't want you, don't get your hopes up like this again._ Hancock steps back a step further. So that he is far enough away that he can't feel her anymore. He catches his breath and stares at the back of her head, looking for a sign that they are fine. That he hasn't done anything irreversible.

Dora shakes her head. _I have got to stop doing this. I have to get a grip on this. Every little thing he does gets to me. I can't handle this shit._ She leans back on her heels, hands on her hips. _I don't fucking understand. Other guys try to kiss me. –nothing. He touches my hand and looks me in the eyes and I lose feeling in my legs and the ability for rational thought. This is fucking stupid._

Jenn reaches the point of the stairs where she can see the two standing in the office, Dora looks flustered, Hancock seems uneasy. "Am I interrupting something? I can go back up and we can pretend I was never here."

Dora laughs, but even Jenn can hear that it's forced. "No, Jenn. We weren't fucking on the office floor or anything. That's your thing." Dora smirks at her friend, her breathing slowing to a normal pace at the usual banter.

Hancock however is having the opposite reaction. Still reeling from the shattered moment before, and now envisioning them together – _Get your shit together. She is joking. Just joking. Stop thinking about her like that. It's not worth the letdown._

"You sure? You both seem a little, flustered down here." She half-rolls her eyes. "Or down there, however you wanna think about it"

Dora grins at her. "We are friends, Jenn."

"Guys and girls can't just be friends. It's proven."

"Oh really? What about Daniel? He is my friend."

"Dee, I don't know if you have noticed, but that boy wants to fuck you more than I want a Swiss Roll." She tilts her head down, "And I really, really want a motherfucking Swiss Roll."

Dora takes her things and sits them on the floor near the wall. "Yeah, I know. Bad example" she chuckles lightly. "I keep telling him we are just friends, but he is a persistent little shit."

Hancock feels his chest tighten, but he can't pinpoint why. _Am I jealous of this guy? Or is it because she said we were 'just friends' just like her and this other guy? Both? I don't know. Little bit of Jet would be great right about now._

Dora turns to Hancock, snapping him out of his thoughts. "We have a room you can stay in for as long as you want, if you wanna follow me." He begins to follow her up the stairs, then she turns her head, and calls back to Jenn, who is still at the base, "Oh, and Jenn? Would you go to the green room and grab us some flowers? And prepare big Jim?" Hancock sees the ghouls eyes get wider.

"Oh hell yeah! I am so excited!" Jenn yells to Dora as she and Hancock continue up the stairs.

"What was that about?" Hancock asks, both excited and terrified for the answer.

"You'll find out." She winks at him, half smiling. "I'll show you around." She gestures to the left, "That's the living room. Social area." They continue down the hall, passing door ways. "These first two doors on the right are Jess and Jenn respectively. First on the left is the bathroom. We do have hot water for ghouls and the brave." She sees Hancock raise an eyebrow. "There is a small modular reactor in the basement that powers the house. The water for the showers doesn't come directly through the reactor, but it is the feedwater to the generator. Radiation resistant piping is pretty slim these days, so some radiation gets through."

"You have a nuclear reactor in your basement?"

"Yup. Plenty of fuel at enrichment sites, and everybody is too damn scared to go near it."

"What kind of doctor are you?" He jokes.

A toothy grin crosses her face. "Not the medical kind. I have a Ph. D in both Nuclear Physics and Biochemistry. Before the war, I was doing research on the effects of intense radiation exposure on living organisms." They stop in the hall, Hancock is listening intently. "I was making ghoul mice, and ghoul cats and dogs, analyzing them. Learning how it worked. Learning the science that makes me a medical doctor nowadays." She sighs. "I knew the war was coming, knew that the world was going to be destroyed. And I wanted to ensure Lydia would be safe. Didn't care so much about myself." She leans against the wall. "I was my first human test. I told you I dropped one hundred forty pounds in a day and a half, and that was true. It shaves off everything that isn't necessary, and ghoulifies the most important things first. It starts internally. With the internal organs, then moves to the skin. Beginning around the belly button and moving outward. If you take the second serum, and stop it just after the organs, you turn out like me."

Hancock stares at her in awe. "You were a ghoul before the war?" She smiles lightly.

"Yeah. As far as I know I was the first. Lydia and Nathan were second and third." Hancock's eyes widen, _They were ghouls too?_ Dora chuckles. "If the world wasn't ending I would have been a shooin' for that Nobel Prize. At the very least I could have been a millionaire with the world's best weight-loss drug."

"You made yourself and Lydia and Nathan into ghouls, and then what?"

"We built our own shelter. Stored everything we wanted or needed to have in the new world. The rest is history."

Hancock stands in front of Dora, he wants to step closer, but he is still worried about before. Instead he just stands a friendly distance away. "I'll admit that I didn't understand all of what you said, about feedwater and physics and shit, but I liked hearin' ya talk about it."

Hancock looks at her, she has an odd look in her eyes, like she is almost crying. "Did I say somethin' wro-" his words and thoughts are broken when she suddenly moves from the wall and into his chest. Throwing her arms around his waist, her cheek pressed against his left shoulder. He closes his eyes and puts his arms around her.

"Thank you." She mutters into his shoulder, Hancock opens his eyes as she moves away. His body feeling cold at the loss of contact. "Let's continue our tour shall we?" She continues walking down the hall, and stops at double doors. Hancock catches up to her as she opens one of them. She flicks on the light.

Hancock was expecting a nice bedroom, but what he saw was a library with a bed. Book cases floor to ceiling on each wall; filled with books in the best shape he had ever seen. The only bookcase empty was the one the bed was against. Sitting against the lower portion of the bookcases were paint cans and canvases, "I have never seen so many books. Where did you get all these?"

She grins, "Let's just say I owe a small fortune in pre-war library fines." She chuckles lightly, "You are welcome to borrow anything you like as long as you bring it back. Can't really get all these anymore."

Hancock turns his sight from the room, and back to Dora standing in the doorway. "Thanks. Always love a good book. Nobody to judge there." She smiles softly, and he heads back through the doorway and into the hall. She shuts the door behind them. She goes to the next door, and opens it, turning on the light. It's a smaller room, twin bed and nightstand, empty shelves, and a window.

"Here is the spare bedroom. It's yours as long as you want it, and as long as you make yourself useful." She smirks.

"I am always useful, doll."

"And yet so humble." She turns off the light, and they head back out into the hall.

"The humblest." He returns the smirk, meeting her bright blue eyes with his charcoal ones. They head into the living room where Jess and Jenn are waiting.

"Took you long enough! Quickie before reefer?" Jenn yells, holding up the glass cylinder. "We all know it's better after." She narrows her eyes. "Well, I guess you wouldn't know, would you?" She laughs. Dora rolls her eyes.

"Imma go check on the reactor, ya'll can start without me if you want."

"Careful, your Kentucky is showing." Jess giggles. "We'll wait." Hancock strolls over to the empty couch as Dora makes her way to the stairs. A few moments after she is out of sight, Jenn and Jess lean over in their chairs towards Hancock, his eyes widening at the menacing gesture.

"Okay. We have you alone. There are some things we gotta tell you. We have maybe five minutes before she comes back." Jenn says rather quickly.

"Okay?" Hancock looks at the two ghouls in their best interrogation position.

"First off, you hurt our Dee and we will murder you in your sleep. Second, she has marks on her waist, if you see 'em, pretend you didn't. Third, she doesn't sleep unless she cries herself to sleep. And most of the time it isn't in her room. She will sleep on the couch or the floor before she sleeps in there. We have no idea why. There are never any words that will help her. Believe us, we have tried. She will just humor you until you leave and then resume the tears. Fourth, she sometimes wakes up screaming or crying. If you try to comfort her, she will deny that anything was going on and get super pissed that you 'woke her up'." Jenn says, looking deep into Hancock's eyes.

"She may be a bundle of fucked up, but she is our bundle of fucked up, and we love her. These are the things we thought you should know before you stayed here, and if you want to leave, we can make something up." Jess adds - trying to be helpful.

Hancock leans forward, matching their gesture. "In my experience, everyone's a little bit fucked up. The more they are, the more fun they are to be around. I think I'll stick around a while - help out your doctorin' business here. Helpin' the good doctor make her rounds safely seems like a good enough cause to stay."

Jessica smiles, "That's good. Cause since you came around she has been happier than we have seen her in a while, I mean she –" Jennifer casually elbows her, and then Dora's footsteps can be heard in the distance. Jenn decides to save the situation so Dora doesn't suspect.

"So. Hancock. How does a man like you become mayor of a whole town?"

"Not sure how most people do it, but I did it by staging a coup and killin' the old one."

"I guess that's one way to do it. Why did you do it, though?"

"I stood by and watched as the ghouls in Diamond City were murdered, so when Vic's men started beating up drifters like myself – and killed em when they stood up for themselves. I couldn't just stand by anymore. I wanted to do somethin' about it. And I did."

"When we heard you took the place over, we always thought you just inherited it from Vic. We didn't know you hated him as much as we did." Jessica's eyes turn sad. _They hated him too? How did they even know him?_

Dora moves silently into the room, she had been standing at the top of the stairs as they talked about the past. "Hey, Hey if I am not allowed to be sad, nobody is." She looks at Hancock, "Very few ghouls actually died in Diamond City. Lydia and I saw to that." She turns to Jess and Jenn, "I know you miss him, but Vic is dead. He got what he deserved. We got our revenge even if it wasn't by our own hands."

"We wrapped a rope around his neck and threw him off the balcony of the State House." Hancock states, looking and Jessica, then to Jennifer, whose eyes became teary, but it seemed like happy tears.

"See, the tyrannical asshat got what he deserved." Dora said sitting down on the couch beside Hancock, and picking up the cylinder. Jennifer looks at Hancock and smiles.

"Thank you, Hancock. I hear you made Goodneighbor the town our brother always wished it could be. I wish he were around to see it." Jessica leans over and hugs her sister. Dora passes the cylinder and lighter to Jenn.

"I think you two need this first." Jenn takes the cylinder. Hancock watches as she holds the flame of the lighter to the metal tube near the bottom. Grey smoke rises through the tube and into Jenn's mouth. She holds it in her lungs as she passes it to Jess. She repeats the process, though she takes in less smoke than Jenn. She stands to pass the tube to Hancock's waiting hands. His hands are shaking they are so excited.

"You see how to do it, right? And it's perfectly acceptable to cough." Dora adds leaning closer to Hancock. He nods, and puts his mouth to the top and the lighter to the base. He inhales the smoke and holds it. _She was right, this shit tickles like a motherfucker._ He exhales, and coughs a little near the end.

"Shit. Almost made it without lookin' like a pussy." Hancock sighs as he passes to Dora, still coughing slightly

Dora looks over at him. "Darlin, I don't think you could ever look like a pussy." She lights the lighter and follows the same pattern, except she pulls the little metal tube out of the bottom, and all the smoke rushes up the tube and into her lungs, as she inhales deeply. She turns to look at Hancock and smiles. Holding the smoke in with her tongue. She turns to the middle of the room, and exhales the smoke, making smoke rings at first just to show off, then she just lets it all go.

Hancock begins to tingle. Everywhere, but especially around his crotch. He can't decide if it's part of the high or if it's because that act of drug lust was one of the sexiest things he had ever laid his eyes on. He shifts on the couch, trying to hide the tightness in his pants. Dora leans back in the couch and returns her gaze to him.

"You are gonna feel tingles everywhere, your mouth is going to feel like dry cotton, you are going to think everything is the funniest thing on the planet, and you are going to really want to eat when you come down, and you are gonna be super sleepy." Dora says, leaning close to him. He can feel her smoke laced breath on his skin. Really not helping the tightness down stairs. "Oh, and a little warning" She leans in even closer, "I get touchy when I am high on reefer" She starts giggling, and Hancock chuckles as well. Jess and Jenn are on the other side of the table, whispering to each other and giggling about God knows what.

The four of them just made small talk for a while. Laughing about nothing, talking about the rumors and legends of the wastes. The girls telling Hancock all about prewar life, and prewar drugs. A while later, Jess and Jenn excuse themselves to get to bed early. Dora knows it's an act so they can leave her alone with Hancock.

For a few minutes, they just sit in silence, listening to the sounds of each other's breathing. Then Dora turns to Hancock, "Head or legs?"

He narrows his eyes, "What are you talkin' bout, toots?'

She laughs, "Just pick one, John"

He laughs too, "Okay, head." When he answers, she scoots around on the couch, putting her back to him.

"Put your feet up on the table." She demands, and he obliges. _She isn't gonna do what I think she's gonna do, is she?_

Dora leans back, and gently lays her head on his lap, her eyes are closed, but her face is towards him. His breath hitches, and he tries not to think about all the added pressure in an already tight area. Trying to keep cool, he decides he should keep talkin' "So what woulda happened if I had picked legs?"

"I would have thrown my legs over your lap instead."

He replies before he thinks about it, "So, either way, I have a beautiful woman in my lap. I can't lose" He freezes when she opens her eyes, and they make eye contact, but he is surprised when her eyes are warm and she smiles.

"This way has a better view for me though." Dora looks into his dark eyes, and sees the fear being replaced by relief. She is enjoying being engulfed in his scent once again, and this time, she feels his warmth as well. _Just don't think about the fact that your head is on his dick. The weed made you horny enough, you don't need to add to the situation._ He smiles down at her, not the cocky smile, or the presentable smile, but a crooked grin. One that seems truly genuine. _Why do I feel comfortable enough to do this with him? I barely know him._

Hancock swallows, and Dora can feel him shift slightly under her. "Why did you hug me earlier?" He sees her open her eyes, and they seem hurt.

"I didn't know I needed a reason. Sorry" She starts to sit up, but he moves his hand to the side of her face, caressing her cheek. She settles back down, closing her eyes, and moving into his touch. Her breathing quickening.

"Sunshine, you can touch me however you want, whenever you want. I was just wonderin' what you were thankin' me for." _Her skin is even softer than I imagined, and the look on her face…if I didn't know better, I'd think she liked this._ He starts to move his hand away, but she moves her hand on top of his, keeping it on her face. _Does she?_

Her eyes still closed, she opens her mouth slowly, and starts to speak. "It was just that…Nobody has ever said anything like that to me before. Especially not a guy." She takes a deep breath. "They either blatantly don't give a shit about what I have to say, or they pretend like they understand because they think that's what it takes to get me into their bed. I hate it."

"Which type is this Daniel I heard about?" She opens her eyes briefly to look into his. _Is that jealousy? Can't be._ She laughs lightly, and closes her eyes again.

"He is the worst of both types. He will ignore what I am saying to look at my tits, but he still tries to pretend like he was listening and understanding." She shakes her head. "I don't have many employees and even less friends, but I swear. I can't stand him most of the time."

"Why is that?" He brushes her hair out of her face, and with his other hand, begins to play in her hair. Her breathing quickens again. _Holy shit. That feels heavenly._

"He is dropdead handsome and he knows it. The type of guy who believes he is God's gift to women. I am pretty sure he is only staying around because I am the only girl he wanted who hasn't let him shove his cock in my mouth." Hancock can feel her face getting hotter. _She is getting pissed._ "Guys like him are the reason I am a 240 year old virgin!" Her eyes spring open, realizing the confession she just made. _Shit. Shit. Shit. Fuck._ She looks into Hancock's face looking for signs of ridicule or amusement in his eyes. Finding neither, just warmth.

"I refuse to believe that. You are way too damn amazin' to be a virgin for that long" She closes her eyes, not wanting him to see her. He pulls her face towards him, as he leans down closer to her. She opens her eyes and meets his, "I am not lyin, you know." She smiles gently, leaning back again.

"When I was fat, no guy wanted anything to do with me. When I became this, suddenly every handsome guy wanted me. For the wrong reasons." A tear falls from her eyes, and Hancock brushes it away with his thumb. "I could never be with someone who only wanted my body. Fuck that. I think I deserve the whole package." She smiles softy. "Then the world ended, and the relationship options got even slimmer, and I figured since I have saved it this long, I wasn't going to lower my standards just because it was the apocalypse. That's way too damn cheesy and lame."

"Prewar men must have been fucking stupid to not realize how great you were." She opens her eyes again, meeting his, shimmering in the dimming light of the house. "You deserve the whole package and so much more." He rubs his hand across her face, his thumb grazing her lips. He pauses when her mouth opens slightly. He feels her breathing get heavier, and he bends his thumb, sliding it into her open mouth. _John. Stop. This is too far. This is not 'friendly' behavior._ When he is about to remove it, and pretend like it was an accident, he feels her tongue run across the tip of his finger, so he cautiously moves his thumb a little further. She closes her mouth around him, gently sucking, moving her tongue around the tip of his thumb. He throws his head back, resting it on the back of the couch. A low moan escapes his throat. Feeling her tongue on his skin, the wetness of her mouth. Hearing her breath get faster, as she sucks harder - twirling her tongue around him. He moans again when he feels her teeth cross his skin, lightly biting.

She hears his moan, she can feel his chest rising and falling with his rapid breaths, she can feel his excitement on the back of her head, but that only pushes her further. She loves the taste of him, loves the way she is affecting him. Loves all of it. Loves all of it too much. Her heartbeat gets faster, changing from arousal to fear. Fear of attachment. Fear of rejection. Fear of facing her feelings.

She sits up so quickly, removing his hand from her mouth he barely even has time to register the change until she is standing, "I need to get to bed. We go to Diamond City early in the morning. I will see you then. Goodnight, Hancock" She doesn't even make eye contact with him while she speaks, and then she disappears into the dark hallway. He hears her door open and close.

 _Oh Goddamn._ He sits on the couch, trying to make sense of what just happened. _You just stuck your thumb in a virgin's mouth, and then poked her in the back of the head with your cock. That's a great way to win a woman, John._ He leans forward, adjusting his pants to ease the pressure at least a small fraction, and then places his face in his hands, _She started it though. Should I have stopped her? Was telling her to stop the right choice? She seemed to be enjoyin' herself up until the moment she bolted outta here. I hope I didn't just fuck everything up._

Lydia's words echo in his mind, _"She is just like you. She runs from everything that's the least bit scary."_ He takes a tin of mentats out of his pocket and places one under his tongue as he walks to the room designated as his. He stops to look at her door. _If she feels the way I feel, that'd be pretty damn scary._ He opens his door, and steps inside.

* * *

Dora closes the door behind her, moving quickly to her bed. She sits down and pulls her legs up to her body, wrapping her arms around them and resting her face on her knees, slightly rocking back and forth. _What the fuck did I just do? I don't even know if I hate myself more for starting it or for ending it. God, I wanted nothing more than to keep going._ Her mind flashes back to the couch, and to his moans, and to his kin in her mouth, and she feels a rush of sensation up from her sex, feeling herself get wetter. _Shit. No. I don't want to do this. I don't want to feel. When I let myself feel, I always end up hurt. I can't let him in._ She drops her legs and lays back in bed. _He deserves someone better than me anyway. He deserves a girl with far less baggage. Maybe one who didn't try to kill him._ She covers her face with her hands. _I know all of this. So why can't I stop thinking about him? About us?_ She swallows hard, her left hand moving up to her own breast, feeling herself. _There's no harm in imagining, right?_ Her right hand slowly snakes its way under her jeans, then under the thin fabric of her panties. Her mind filling with him, thinking of what could have happened had she not left, pretending her own hands are his, caressing her. Feeling her. Moaning his name under her breath, careful not to be loud enough for Jess and Jenn to hear her. She finishes –out of breath and out of energy, she doesn't even move her hands before sleep takes her, without a fight for the first time since Lydia was killed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there it is. Hoped you liked it! But I have some bad news... College resumes this Wednesday, meaning I will be returning to the seventh circle of hell, and won't have as much free time to write. I promise I will try my best to keep it updated though. Thank you for reading and for understanding!


	11. Chopsticks & Dalmations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!
> 
> So, this chapter is very long, (Is that good? Bad? Idk) But either way, I wrote something! Classes are still slow, so I am getting some writing done while I still can. Hope you guys like it. It's just plot progression and sprinkles of fluff. Smut will return in the next chapter. Have patience. =)
> 
> Song: "Feast of the Heart" -Jesca Hoop

Hancock sits in the waiting room, loading his shotgun, and preparing for the trip to his least favorite place in the Commonwealth. _She says that there are still ghouls there, but I don't see how._ He watches Jess and Jenn scurry around the office, shuffling papers and moving things from place to place. _Must be getting' ready to open the place._ He watches Dora come down the stairs. She is wearing a T-shirt and jeans as usual, but this is the first time he has seen her hair down, it's like a thick black curtain framing her face, reaching all the way down to her forearms. The back of her hair flows behind her like a cape as she swiftly descends the stairs. _She really is one of the most beautiful gals I've ever laid eyes on._

She notices him looking at her, and makes eye contact. "Mornin' Hancock. You sleep alright?" she says with a soft smile, showing no acknowledgement of what happened last night.

"Mornin, sunshine. I slept fine, thanks for askin'" She nods at him, then disappears into the small room in the office to fill her medical bag for the trip. He thinks about last night. Not just what happened but what happened after that, _No mentats hallucination had ever seemed so real. I know I was imagining her moaning for me, but I swear, it sounded real. Made for a great solo session after what happened before that._ He quickly changes his mind's path back to his weapons before he starts to get excited again. He didn't even hear her return to the main room, but Dora was standing in front of him, her pistol on her hip and rifle over her shoulder. Her head is turned sideways as she brushes her hair out.

"You about ready to go?" She asks, straightening back up. She then starts to twist her hair around her hand, and removes a plastic clip from her shirt Hancock didn't even see was there, to fix her hair to the back of her head. The scent of her wafts off of her hair and towards him, surrounding him in her gentle floral smell. _Is that soap or just her?_

He stands up to face her, "Ready when you are, doll." The two head out the door and towards the city.

* * *

The trip was rather uneventful. The usual radroaches and bloatflys, but nothing spectacular. The two of them walking side by side, in almost painful silence. Hancock thinks about asking about last night. Asking why she left. But he decides he may not want to know the answer, but there was something he did want the answer for.

"You said yesterday that very few ghouls died in Diamond City, but I know that they did. I saw all of the dead bodies, all of the innocent people that were killed and then dragged outside the city to be burned. Like they were garbage" He takes a deep breath, remembering all the pain, his and theirs.

She turns to look at him, seeing the pain in his eyes, and stops walking. She places her hand on his forearm, feeling the softness of his red coat. "Remember how I said we built our own fallout shelter?" He nods, confused as to how this matters. "Well. Lydia, Nathan and I got really good at building stable underground systems, even under existing structures. Ones that you wouldn't know about if you didn't already know about them." His eyes widen. _Is she saying…?_ "The ghouls of Diamond City helped us build it, long before McDonough's little massacre was planned. It was just a good way to get around unnoticed. There was even a path to Goodneighbor." Dora laughed lightly, but Hancock just continues staring.

"But I saw them. I saw all of the corpses" His voice lowers even deeper.

"That was actually my idea. I told Lydia to tell all our patients to go out and kill a few ferals. Keep their bodies preserved and in their clothes. Sitting on their couches and shit. And then when McDonough's men came through, they would shoot first, ask questions later. They wouldn't even know the difference." Hancock looked as if a giant weight had been lifted from his soldiers. "I mean, not everyone listened, and it didn't work for all of them. But most people made it into the tunnels. Most left to go to other settlements, but a lot of 'em still live down there, popping up in various parts of the city when they know the security team won't be there." She looks down at her feet. "I wish I had been there. I wish I was there to save my family. And to save all those people who didn't trust us. I was off chasing a stupid fucking rumor. I thought she could handle it on her own." She clenches her fists, "I was wrong."

Hancock reaches out and pulls her into him, holding her tight to his body. "I know. I feel the same damn way. I hated myself for running. Kept thinkin if I had stayed maybe I coulda saved all of em. Maybe I could have. Maybe you could have. But the past is past. We have to learn from it and move on. Not run from it. I have been runnin from it my whole life. I don't wanna run anymore. You shouldn't either." He feels her arms wrap around him, "we can't run from the past darling, any more than we can run from our feelins." Dora pulls away, looking up into his dark eyes, seeing his affection, and fearing it.

She diverts her eyes, and steps away. "We should keep moving." Hancock watches her walk ahead, faster than normal, kind of like a walk to prove a point. _Looks like she wants to keep runnin'. I just hope she is actually feelin the same things as me, or I am makin' a total ass of myself._

* * *

"If you are trying to keep a low profile, is it really such a good idea to bring a ghoul into the city? They don't take kindly to that sorta thing." Hancock whispers as the city comes into view.

"We aren't gonna go directly in there. I don't even like to be seen entering when I was coming alone." She veers right, and Hancock follows so that they are standing under a tree. "Is anyone watching?"

"No, but I don't really care if people watch." Hancock waggles what was once an eyebrow suggestively. Dora rolls her eyes, a smile creeping across her face. She reaches into a small bush under the tree, which turns out to be fake, because it lifts into the air with quite a bit of 'ground'.

"Is that a fucking trapdoor?" He looks at the tunnel into the ground, and the small metal ladder. "That's some spy shit." Dora's smile widens.

"Get in the hole, Hancock, before someone sees us." He responds with a wry smile, before climbing down the ladder. After room is made, Dora comes in after him, closing the door behind them.

When they reach the bottom, Hancock looks around while he waits for Dora to join him. It's a tight tunnel, lit dimly with small lamps that are few and far between, the tunnel supported with metal and stone, some wood in the framing.

"Is this what old mine shafts were like?" Hancock asked, squinting in the darkness.

"Yep. Pretty much." Dora replies, walking through the dark tunnel.

A few minutes pass before they run into another person. A small ghoul boy, sitting on a stool, smiling up at Dora, who returns the smile. He glances at Hancock with a distrusting look. Dora notices the gaze, "Hey Randy. This is Mayor Hancock, he's with me. We can trust him. Where's Harold?"

Another ghoul man appears from an adjacent tunnel. Hancock remembers seeing him around before Mcdonough took over. "How could you bring him here? Do you have any idea who he is?!" The ghoul seems to yell the words without even raising his voice, looking at Hancock, then to Dora. Hancock starts to step forward to try to explain himself to Harold, but Dora holds her hand out, blocking his path.

"Yes Harold. I know exactly who he is. He is Mayor Hancock."

"He is a McDonough, Dorothy!" Harold elevates his voice, shaking his fist.

"Who gives a shit? I don't. Do you honestly think I would bring him here if I didn't trust him?"

"Look where trusting his brother got us!"

Hancock steps forward, "Listen, I hate him too. I shouldn't have left. I should have tried harder to stop him, or to at least help the people. I made a mistake. I live with that decision every day. I am sorry."

"Your 'sorry' doesn't mean a damn thing, McDonough!" Harold yells, barely finishing his words before Dora approaches him, getting very close to his face with hers, giving him stern eyes. Scary eyes. A side of her Hancock had never seen before.

"Listen Harold. My sister died for this fucking place. To help you people. I have been helping you ever since then, and if you want to continue to receive my help, you will at least respect the people I choose to let help me." Venom dripping from her low voice, "He apologized. What more do you want? He can't help who he is related to, but you can change how you _fucking_ treat people."

Harold swallows, looking intimidated by the small woman glaring at him. He looks over to Hancock. "I…am sorry. I…appreciate you helping Dorothy." He spoke softly, and with a waiver in his voice that implied that he didn't fully mean what he said.

Dora steps back, satisfied with the performance. "Thank you Harold. Maybe you could mean it next time, but I appreciate the effort." She looks to Hancock expectantly,

"Thank you Harold." Hancock whispered with a half-smile of respect that Harold seemed to return. Hancock glanced over at Randy, who seemed to feel very awkward in the situation, he gave the child comical wide eyes, which were received with a genuine smile.

Dora looks at Randy's smile, and follows his eyes back to Hancock, and that strange expression. Even she cracks a smile, and turns back to Harold, "So, let's get this started." They begin to walk into another tunnel, Randy and Hancock follow behind them, making faces at each other.

Hancock sits on a stool at the bar in a large chamber, watching all of the ghouls form a line near the Doctor. He is far enough away that he can't hear what she says, he simply watches her mouth as she speaks to them. Watching her movements as she uses medical tools to test for God-knows-what. He sips his drink, watching her work. Watching the way her eyes shine when her patients say 'thank you' and how she gets this incredibly cute goofy smile when they hug her. He doesn't even realize he is smiling at her –smiling with her.

Harold sits down in the stool, next to Hancock, breaking his concentration on Dora. "Hey. I am sorry about bein' so hard on you before. Its…hard to let go. And up until today, I thought she hated you too"

"She did up until about four days ago. She thought I did something that I didn't actually do."

"She thought you killed Lydia?" The ghoul behind the bar sits a drink down on the bar in front of Harold.

"Yeah. But Lydia was my friend too, even if I didn't want to admit it back then." Hancock sips his drink.

"Lydia was the best type of person. I hate what happened to her, but I think what happened to Dora after Lydia was gone was even worse."

"What do you mean?" Hancock asks, looking directly at Harold now.

"Well. She has been coming here every week for three years, and this," He points his drink in the direction of Dora, "this is the first time I have seen her smile like that since Lydia was around." Hancock looks at Dora, who was smiling softly, listening to the heartbeat of a skinny ghoul woman. "I can't help but think it's because of you." Hancock turns back to the man.

"What'd make you think a thing like that?" Hancock smirks, taking another drink.

"You have been watching her work with a shit-eating grin on your face for the past hour. I know you care about her. And if you really care about her, and you make her smile again, then that makes you alright in my book."

"I don't think it's me. She's smiling at her patients. She loves helpin' these people."

"Yeah. That's part of it. But that's not all of it. Normally she has this cloud of negativity hangin' around her, didn't really let other emotions through." He passes his empty glass back to the bartender, who begins to wash it with a worn rag. "It's gettin' thinner. That has to be you, unless some other major change has happened this past week." Harold stands up. "Either way, thanks for your help." Hancock nods as Harold walks back into a tunnel. Hancock looks back at Dora, who has apparently just finished with a patient, she turns to him and their eyes meet, Hancock smiles. _She has to know I have been starin' at her. May as well embrace it._ And Dora smiles back. The big goofy one. _I love that smile._

"Alright Harold. I think I have seen everyone. Let me know if there is anything else you need." Dora spoke, packing up her supplies. "I'll see you and everyone else next week." She begins to walk down a tunnel, but stops in her tracks. "Oh, one more thing" He raised a brow, awaiting her command. "That tunnel to Goodneighbor, I think we should finish it. Would make life easier on the people who have family there." Harold looks at Dora, glancing over to Hancock, who is listening intently. Dora turns towards him, then back to Harold, "It doesn't seem like such a bad place anymore." Hancock stands from his stool, dropping some caps on the bar for his drinks, and heads towards the two.

"Did I hear that right? You wanna build a tunnel into my little town?" Hancock asked, smirking wildly.

"Well, finish it. Lydia planned for it when we first designed the place, but we never completed it." Harold spoke, looking at Hancock with a face that said _told you so._

"Yeah. You still have the plans for it, right? I spent a while in Goodneighbor recently, all of the issues I had seem to have been resolved, and I mean. We have the mayor on our side, why not finish it? Open up the trade?" Dora looking between the two, wondering why Harold gave Hancock that look.

"Yeah. We still have the plans. We can start working on that right away. Give us something to work on." Harold smiles, excited for new trade options.

"That sounds great. Just let me know when you get close, or if you need any help with anythin'." Hancock's eyes bright. _This could be good for Goodneighbor. New trade is good trade. They can get things in and out of the city without going through the security._

Dora smiles. "Good." She turns to Hancock, "I want some noodles, do you want some noodles?"

"Sure? Won't somebody notice the ghoul eating noodles in the wide open air?"

"Probably, but I can just stab them. We will be fine." Dora smirks, as they head down another tunnel.

* * *

They reach the end of the tunnel, and another ladder and trapdoor, "Where does this one go?" Hancock asks.

"You'll recognize it when we get up there." They climb the ladder, and Dora knocks on the trapdoor. A few moments later, they hear rustling and the door opens.

"Hey there, Dee! Haven't seen you in a long time!" The man who opens the door calls to Dora as they climb up. Dora stands up in the room, and Hancock comes into view on the ladder. "Mayor Hancock?" He turns to Dora, "I guess Nick Valentine and his lady-friend found you and convinced you to save him?" Hancock reaches the top and looks around, he is in a living room, _Lydia's living room._

"Oh, so you are the one who caved on me? What if they had been murderers or something?"

"Valentine was an old friend. I knew he was fine. And hell, the woman was having a come-apart on my couch. She cares about you, man" Jake looks at Hancock, and Dora does too, seeing real sadness in his eyes. She felt her chest tighten, seeing the pain in his eyes.

"Yeah. I know." Hancock replies. _Just not enough._

Dora knows she needs to change the subject, she doesn't want to see that look anymore. "Do you know which guard is working near the Power Noodles today?"

"Jones I think"

"Oh, good. Jones is easy. Thanks Jake."

"Yeah no problem Dee. Good to see you." Jake replies, looking at her concerned look towards Hancock. _When did she go from hating his guts to taking him out for noodles?_

* * *

The two sit on stools at Power Noodles. People are looking, but nobody has said anything to them yet. Hancock is steadily eating his noodles, glancing over at Dora who seems to be very frustrated. She is holding her sticks awkwardly in her right hand, picking up noodles, but dropping them before they reach her mouth. Hancock smiles, "You alright there, toots?"

"Yeah. I just hate fucking chopsticks. I mean, seriously, who thought eating noodles with two sticks was a good idea? I have been trying for two hundred years, still can't do it without making a fool of myself."

"You ain't doin too bad. I think you getting pissed off at a bowl of noodles is pretty cute."

Dora raises her eyebrows at him, and begins to speak before a guard appears in between them.

"No Ghouls in the City. You have to leave. Freak." The guard says, giving Hancock a nasty look. Hancock starts to stand, but Dora extends a hand like a stop sign before she stabs her sticks into her noodles like Excalibur and stands up. The guard turns to face her. "You have a problem with that?"

"Your name is Jones right?"

"Yes. But my name doesn't matter." The guard states in a hostile tone. Dora moves towards the guard. Hancock sees her left hand swiftly flick the safety switch on his rifle –the guard doesn't even notice.

"Okay Jones. Here is what's gonna happen. You are gonna apologize to my friend here, and then you are going to leave and let us finish our noodles." Dora threatens, looking directly at the guard with a stern face. He grips his weapon.

"Why would I do that?" Dora moves to the guard's ear, he puts his gun into her stomach, and tries to pull the trigger, surprised when it only clicks. She wraps her fingers around his throat, breaking the skin with her finger nails, drawing little drops of blood.

Hancock sees the corner of her lip come up into an evil smile. "Because, if you don't, I am going to squeeze until you pass out, Then I am going to go tell your wife, Janet about your late night trips to visit little miss Miranda across town. Maybe I will even tell Miranda's husband, since you tried to shoot me and all. Doesn't he have connections with the mob?" Dora feels his pulse quicken, and releases her grip enough to hear his reply.

"How do you know about that?" He groans, struggling to breath.

Her smile grows bigger. "The walls have ears, Jonesy-boy." She grips him tighter again, Small drops of blood falling from his wounds. "Do we have an understanding?" He tries to nod, and she releases him. His hands fly to hold his throat as he coughs.

He stands up, hand still on his throat, He looks at Dora, with an evil smile of satisfaction, then to Hancock, still sitting on the stool. Watching with a curious look in his eyes "I am sorry. Enjoy your stay. Just don't make any trouble." Hancock nods, and Jones walks away. Dora returns to the stool, and wipes the blood off her hands onto her pants. She turns to Hancock, who is staring at her, his eyes all shimmery.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"That." He leans towards her. "Was hot." Dora laughs.

"Blackmail and strangulation? You have some kinky fetishes, John." Hancock laughs too, and starts digging in his belongings. He returns with a fork, and presents it to her. "Holy fuck! Thank you. That makes this so much easier."

"Anything for you, doll. You strangled a man to defend my honor, I like that." Hancock says, wry smile on his face.

"Not like I killed him for you." She replies, using the fork to finally eat her noodles.

"Would you have?"

"Probably." She mumbles. Mouth full of food. Hancock laughs. Deep. One of those laughs from the stomach. And she swallows and gives him that smile he loves so much.

* * *

Walking back to the office, they share light conversation. Encountering various Commonwealth pests along the way. Dora can't seem to keep the image of his saddened face from her mind. _I tell him personal shit all the damn time. Surely he will tell me._

She clears her throat and breaks the short silence, looking over at him, "Why did you look so upset when Jake mentioned Nora caring about you?"

Hancock stumbles in his tracks. That pain returning to his eyes before he squeezes them shut, reopening them quickly. Hardened eyes. "I don't know what you are talking about, doll." Dora stops, Hancock stops and turns to her. Seeing her leg kicked out, and a hand on her hip. _That is a dangerous pose for a woman to be in._

"Don't bullshit a bullshitter, John." Dora states, voice filled with sass. He lets out a hearty laugh.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Do I need a reason? I tell you my shit all the time, even when I don't want to." She turns away from him.

"Alright. I'll tell ya all about it. But can we keep walkin?" Hancock asks. _If we are walking, maybe she won't look at me. I can't talk about this if she is lookin at me._ Dora nods, returning to her steady walking pace, right beside Hancock. Keeping an eye on their surroundings.

"She came into Goodneighbor a lil under a year ago. Fresh outta the vault. She seemed so fragile. So innocent. I wanted to protect her, but I learned pretty quick I was wrong. She was pretty good at takin care of herself. She did some work for me, and I grew to like her. I liked what she stood for. So before she left, I decided I wanted to join her. Go adventurin' with her. Help out the commonwealth. Sharpen the old killer instinct and all that." Hancock talks, looking ahead, never to Dora. Dora only glancing to him to make sure he was okay when his voice waivered.

"She was beautiful. A great fighter. She was helpin' people. She talked to me like an equal. All that, and the time we were spendin together. Of course I started to have feelin's for her." Hancock pauses, Dora can practically hear his throat tighten. "One day she began to talk to me about my opinions on relationships between people who were 'different'. If I would be able to handle all the judgement if it meant a loving relationship." His voice shakes, "I made the mistake of letting myself believe she could be talkin' 'bout me." His hand quivers beside Dora's. She fights the urge to turn to him, to hold him. "I was waiting for her to come back to Sanctuary from a trip when I saw her some into view. Laughing and smiling with her hand in Nick's." He makes a fist. Dora feels her own chest tighten. "Then it all hit me at once. Like a bad, bad fucking trip."

Dora can't handle it anymore, she has to do something. She quickly moves her hand to his, grabbing it. Wrapping her fingers in his, palm to palm. Leathery skin against hers. He squeezes her hand. She rubs his thumb with hers. He clears his throat, and begins to speak again. "The pathetic thing was, I still wanted to be around her. It hurt like hell. But it was like… the pain of being with her was better than the pain of being without her." He chuckles lightly. "Stupid, right?" He turns to Dora, looking into her bright blue eyes, hoping she was going to be satisfied, and drop it.

"No. It's not stupid. It's about wanting to feel something. Even if what you feel is pain, it's better than just being…numb." Dora answers his rhetorical question. "I told you I have had no experience in relationships, but the closest thing I ever had was this guy in College. Greg." Hancock squeezed her hand, comforting her in whatever painful thing she was about to share with him in return for his openness. "We met at a bar near campus. He listened to me. He joked with me. He seemed…interested. He would flirt with me, put his arm around me when we walked. A lot like you do now. I didn't know any better back then. I thought it meant something. I thought I meant something. I thought we were kind of a couple." Dora laughs, but Hancock can hear the sadness in the sound. "I wanted him to meet my best friend, so I went to dinner with the two of them…Long story short- the dinner turned into a date, with me as the third wheel." Hancock moved his thumb over hers, and caressed her finger like she did to his. "I don't know if I loved him. I don't even know what that means. But fuck… I had never felt about anyone like I felt about him. I wanted to be around him, even though I could feel it killing me inside. And I hated myself for feeling this way about my best friend's boyfriend." She laughed. Still laced with pain. Hancock sees a tear roll down her face from the corner of his eye.

"We are just two peas in a fucked up pod then, aren't we?" Hancock joked, turning his head to face her. She laughs lightly.

"Yeah." She pauses, "Is that why you came to find me?" She said, voice low.

He looks at her, seeing a new sadness, a present sadness. _She thinks I am just here to get over Nora._ "I'd be lyin if I said part of me wasn't happy for a good reason to get away. But that's not why I came. And it's sure as hell not why I stayed." Her words reverbed in his mind ' _A lot like you do now'_ "And when **_I_** do stuff like this…-" He pulls her hand to his mouth, and presses his small, warm lips to the back of her hand, never breaking eye contact. "It means something." His last word trails off, from sultry deep gravel, to soft-spoken truth. He lowers their hands back to the neutral position between them, and loosens his grip, in case she wants to pull away. She doesn't. She just gives him a smile, then looks straight ahead again.

Thoughts fly around in Dora's head as they walk. She is trying to forget he is there so that maybe she can think straight. Her hand in his, and his fingers gently rubbing her hand are making that difficult. But the last think she wants is for him to stop. _What the fuck am I doing? I have fallen for this shit before. I don't wanna fall for it again._ She looks down at their entwined fingers, remembering that kiss on her hand. Remembering his words. _Could he be telling the truth? Does it mean something to him? Do I mean something?_ She glances up at his face. His dark eyes, his thin lips giving her a gentle smile before he returns to looking around them for danger. _What does he mean to me?_

* * *

When they make it back to the office, Dora quickly disappears up the stairs, mumbling something about blood on her pants. Hancock can't resist the urge to watch her ass as she bolts up the stairs, swaying with each step she takes, and lightly jiggling at the force of her hasty steps. _Damn._

Hancock heads up the stairs at a regular pace, but turns to the social area, where he hears voices. Jess and Jenn are on a couch, and there is a man in the arm chair. Hancock takes a moment to look at this man. He looks tall. Blonde hair, blue eyes. _He looks like a Goddamn pre-war underwear model._ The man speaks up, "You must be Mayor Hancock. It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Daniel." He extends his hand towards Hancock, who takes it in a firm grip and shakes.

"Good to meet ya, Daniel." Hancock forces a polite smile. _Daniel. Dora was right. He is a handsome guy, but she doesn't like being around him._ He sits on the empty couch in the same place he did last night. The fond memories flooding his mind. He puts his legs up on the coffee table.

Jess stands up. "Now that the gang is all here, I will go get all the drinks." Daniel stands up too.

"I will help you with them. I don't think you can carry all of those bottles."

"Thank you Daniel. You are sweet." Jess says, with a soft grin. Daniel gives her a full smile. A nice smile. Hancock looks at the man. _Too nice of a smile. It doesn't even seem real._

The two disappear downstairs. Moments after, Dora came back down the stairs. Her hair was down, falling around her face and down her back. She was wearing a simply orange shirt, and one of those cloth floral skirts that seemed to flow away from the body. The skirt came to mid-thigh. This was the first time Hancock had seen this much of her skin. Dora notices him staring. "What? Skirts are the most comfortable of attire." She swishes the skirt around, "I feel so free!" Hancock smiles, and so does Jenn. Dora turns to her, "Where is Jess?"

"She went with Daniel to grab all the booze." Jenn stated. Dora's smile dripped away.

"Daniel is here? Do I have time to change clothes again before he comes back?" Jenn shook her head. "Fuck." _I am gonna want to put my legs up, but I don't want him to peek up my skirt repeatedly like last time. Wait. I have something I didn't have last time._ "Is he sitting in the arm chair?" Jenn nods again, wondering what the hell she is planning. Dora looks at Hancock and smirks evilly.

 _What is that dame planning?_ Hancock wonders as she advances towards him. She grabs a worn pillow from the floor beside the couch and sits it a decent distance away from Hancock. She sits down right next to him. "Legs okay?" He nods before he has time to process the question, and in a second she is throwing her legs over his lap, and propping her head up on the pillow. He looks at the smooth skin of her knees near his face, her thick thighs even more exposed from the angle her legs are bent. He can see splashes of bright colors just under the edge of the fabric. _Are those tattoos?_ He knows he could easily move his head and see everything. _She wanted to point her skirt as away from Daniels wondering eyes as possible, and what better way to do that than by placing it on top of another man…. She is trusting me not to look either._

Jenn stares at the display in front of her, how contented Dora looks, how distressed Hancock seems to be. She knows that this is the best way to keep Daniel at bay, but if he realized it was an act, he will probably be pissed. "Hancock. Her pussy is not gonna bite ya. Don't act scared of it. If you want him to believe this, you are gonna have to act like you own those legs." Jenn said quietly, in case they were on the way back.

Hancock turned to Dora, silently asking her if she wanted him to listen to Jenn. She sat up and whispered in his ear, "Hancock. Touch me. Make him believe this. I trust you… I don't trust him." He feels her breath on his skin, he can't help but think of the unintended sexual undertones of her words. He doesn't want to pass up this kinda opportunity. He moves his left hand to touch her ankle and lower calf, and settles into a more relaxed position, his right arm across the back of the couch. Dora lays her head back down, getting more comfortable as well. Trying not to think about his rough hand on her legs, how nice it feels.

Seconds later, Jessica comes up the stairs, holding as many bottles of liquor as possible, Daniel comes up behind her, with a crate of bottles, glass clanging as they step. He looks into the room and sees Dora laying on the couch, he can see her bare legs and his smile growls larger. But his smile turns to scowl when he notices her legs are draped over Hancock, and his hand is moving slowly up and down her leg. _What the actual fuck? I have been hanging around her for months and she has never let me touch her any-fuckin-where. This guy is here for two days and he has his hands all over her? I need a fucking drink. And a plan._ He puts his fake smile back on before anyone can see his upset.

* * *

The five of them sit around the table. Taking shots, joking and telling stories. Daniel taking more shots than anyone. He really begins to pound them down when they start playing "Marry, Fuck, Kill" with authors and book characters, and he starts yelling because he doesn't know who any of them are. As the liquor in the bottles goes down, his ability to hide his glares at Hancock also diminishes. Which Hancock finds hilarious. Dora doesn't even seem to notice. After an hour and a half everyone is tipsy, but Daniel is plastered. Jessica asks the group, "If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? I would want a more confident voice, I could probably pick up a lot more women that way." Hancock looks at the petite ghoul woman, _She has never mentioned batting for the other team before. That's interesting._

Jenn takes a shot of tequila. "I would have liked to spend more time talking to guys, and less time under 'em. Woulda had a much better life."

Dora looks at Jess and Jenn. "I wish I didn't have this good of a tolerance for alcohol." They smile, and Daniel laughs, taking a swig of whiskey right from the bottle, and looks straight at Dora.

"I thought for shure you were gonna say those freaky ghoul spots on your stomach." He states with slurred words in a light tone. He laughs at his joke, not realizing the look's everyone was giving him. "But I gotsta say, you are the sexiest Dalmatian I ever seen." Dora sits up. Hancock's hand being ripped from her leg as she places her feet on the floor.

"Thank you Daniel. Now that you mention it. That is what I would change." She stands up. "If ya'll will excuse me, this Dalmation is gonna go chase a fucking firetruck or something." She snatches the bottle of Tequila and disappears down the stairs.

Jenn stands up, throwing her hands in the air, "Daniel, **What. The. Fuck?!** Are you seriously that fucking stupid?!" Jenn screams at the drunk man in the arm chair, Jessica starts to stand up, to go after Dora, but Hancock is already halfway down the stairs.

"Not exactly how I wanted it to go, but it did get his hands offa her" Daniel slurs, raising the bottle of whisky to his mouth again. Jessica takes it from his hand.

"You need to leave. Now." Jessica demands, so close to his face she can practically taste the whisky on his breath.

"I'm too drunk to go home, Jess." He states.

"Then get your stupid fucking ass into the spare room." Jenn yells.

"Isn't that where the precious mayor is staying?"

"We will figure something out." Jess says. Daniel tries to stand up, but immediately tripping, and smacking his head on the coffee table. "Shit. He is gonna feel that one tomorrow." Jess laughs lightly.

"We can only hope. I can't believe he said that to Dee." Jenn growls. "Help me get him in there?"

"Yeah. No problem."

* * *

"Sunshine! Where did you go?" Hancock yells, walking around the downstairs seeing no signs of her. He hears a loud crash from the hall, _She is in one of the exam rooms._ He begins to open doors, looking for where she is. He opens the next-to-last room on the right and sees her standing with her back to the door, leaning against the exam table. The bottle is smashed in the floor, liquid running down the wall above it.

"Leave me alone" She hisses. He steps closer to her, his boots squeaking on the tequila in the floor.

"I said. Go. Away!" She yells. Clenching her fists on the edge of the exam bench. She spins around, expecting to see Jess or Jenn, planning on screaming at them until they leave her alone. She sees John stepping towards her, "Please leave, John." She starts to turn away, but he gently grabs her shoulder, pulling her gaze back to him. She squeezes her eyes closed, not wanting to look at him, tears escaping her eyes.

"Hey. Look at me. I got somethin' I need you to hear. An' I want you to really listen." Dora nods, slowly opening her eyes, seeing the ghoul standing inches from her. "There are a lot of assholes out there, guys that are only gonna love one thing, just like that asshole out there. But… the _right_ one? He is gonna love everything. He is gonna love the way your top lip rolls in on itself when you really smile. He is gonna love how your hair is somehow already all over everything he owns. He is gonna love the smirk you get whenever you kill somethin'. He is gonna love how fuckin' smart you are. He is gonna love the way you get pissed off at chopsticks, and when you sniff out deathclaws." More tears form in her eyes as she looks into his, he raises his left hand to touch her cheek, brushing them away and holds her face in his hand. He slides his right hand up under the edge of her shirt, gently gliding his hand across the patchy withered skin. She jumps at the touch, but he just moves his face even closer to hers. "And he is gonna love these… because they are a part of you."

Dora stares into his eyes, she can't even think. She doesn't want to. She just wants to close this space between them. She closes her eyes and starts to lean into him when a voice and a figure in the door snap her back into reality.

"There you two….are?" Jenn steps into the door way, and sees them just before they separate. Dora has red eyes and flushed cheeks, Hancock is now standing about a foot away from Dora. _If you could see blushing on a ghoul. He would definitely be doing it._ "Um… Daniel smacked his head on the table and we took him to the spare room to sober up." She looks at Hancock, "You can sleep in my room if you want. I can sleep on the couch or something." Jenn says, looking between them. Pissed at herself for cockblocking her friend yet again.

"Thank ya, but I will sleep on the couch. I ain't picky bout where I sleep." Hancock replied, his voice a little shaky.

"So he 'fell'?" Dora asked, making air quotes at Jenn.

She chuckled. "No he actually fell. Jessica wouldn't let me shove him outside, and when he tried to stand up, he fell." She moves towards Dora, "He's a drunk asshole. I'm sorry."

Dora smiles softly, "Its fine. In the grand scheme of names I have been called Dalmatian is one of the better ones. Leper prostitute was probably the worst feeling, albeit clever, one."

"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, James settled his debt today. He brought you 40 smoke detectors." Jenn said, and Dora's big smile returned. Hancock looked at the ghoul with great confusion, _Why the fuck would they accept smoke detectors as payment?_

"Holy fuck! Did he say where he got all of 'em?"

"Nope." She notices her excitement. "You aren't gonna do it tonight are you?"

"Hell yes I am. I don't have anywhere to be tomorrow, and the night is still young." Dora turns and smiles at Hancock. "You up for some fun?"

He smiles back, curious, "Always, dollface."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked it! Let me know what you think. I love hearing from ya'll keeps me writing even when I should be doing homework or something.
> 
> Love,
> 
> -Jumb


	12. LD:50? One Hell of a Drug

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn guys. I am sorry this update took so long. I knew the new semester would be crazy, but I am in hell. But I was seeing all of your support, and I knew I had to sacrifice some sleep to give ya'll an update. Hopefully this will tide you over for a little bit? Hope you enjoy it! And thanks for reading!
> 
> Love, -Jumb

The three of them head down the stairs into the basement, into a small room with a blast door. The small room has all sorts of chemical workbenches and tubes of unknown substances. Jenn sits the box of smoke detectors on the floor. "I still reserve the right to lock both of you in your bedroom until the morning." Jenn states, glaring at Dora.

"That's fine. But it was seriously only one time." Dora explains.

"I don't care how great the high is. You do crazy shit when you do RadAm."

"Wait, wait. What the fuck is RadAm?" Hancock interrupts.

Dora chimes in, "You remember the drug I gave you…back then?" Hancock nods. "The actual drug part was a mild version of RadAm."

"Mild Version? That was the best high of my life. I felt fucking invincible and unbelievably happy." Hancock exclaims, grinning from ear to ear. "I thought that was what made me a ghoul?"

"No. It was a radiation drug, that part was true. I just laced it with the serum that made you a ghoul. Couldn't just give you the serum, you would have questioned why there was no fun and just the side effects." Dora explains. "I also had to dial it back quite a bit because even though you were becoming a ghoul, RadAm will kill a human."

"Damn."

Jenn puts her hand on her hip. "Well, you two have fun with your chemistry lesson. And let me know when you take it so I can lock you both away from all sharp objects." She shoots a glare at Dora before she heads back up the stairs.

"What was that all about?" Hancock asked.

"Last time I took it I decided my red paint wasn't the right shade and took up blood painting. Scared the shit outta Jenn. And Jess for that matter." She picks up the box of detectors and takes it to one of the benches. "Those paintings were fucking cool though. They are in my room. I will show you after this if you wanna see em."

"I'd love to. Anything I can help with? I am pretty good at makin' chems."

"There is a box of watches in that corner, I need you to take a scalpel and scrape all the glowing paint off of the faces and into a watch glass."

He walks to the other bench and picks up the box of watches with glowing green numbers. He picks up a scalpel from the bench and breaks the glass on the watch, scratching at the paint, watching small green powder fall into the watch glass. "What is this shit anyway? And why all the smoke detectors?"

"That paint is made with Radium-226. It's a radioactive substance that gives off alpha, beta, and some gamma radiation. These little silver buttons in the smoke detectors contain Americium-241. A very potent alpha emitter. It's how the smoke detectors work. Alpha's aren't very harmful to people when they are simply exposed, but they are very dangerous to humans when they start inside the body. Like if you ingest it or inject it into the bloodstream." Dora replies, dissolving the metal into a mysterious liquid.

"Which is what we are doing." Hancock replies, breaking watched and removing paint. "Why not just use the watches?"

"Well. You could do it with one or the other, but the Americium is more potent, but the Radium has the gammas that give it a nice kick. It's much better with a mix of the two."

Hancock turns to stare at the woman, leaning over the bench. Making drugs. _She really is my kinda dame._ He takes this time of silence to think about the moment they shared earlier. The way she looked up at him, and then started to lean towards him. _Was she gonna kiss me?_

His thoughts are broken by her voice reverbing around the small room, "Oh, and there is about a 50/50 chance that you may not remember all that happens, or that you will remember things that didn't actually happen. For example, I vividly remember reciting my doctoral dissertation from memory to a group of people, but according to Jessica, I was walking around the house naked, reciting 'Annabel Lee' over and over again."

Hancock laughs heartily. "I would have loved to see that." Dora joins in his laughter.

"Then we would be even."

The realization hits him, "I completely forgot that you have seen me naked. How was that by the way? I assure you, I am much more seductive conscious than I am when I am asleep." He turns to wink at her, to which she replies with a smirk.

"I am a professional. I didn't look"

"Bullshit. I know you. You looked. Just admit it." He retorts, "I woulda looked if the rolls were switched."

She grins, "Okay, I _may have_ glanced."

"I knew it!" He chuckles and points his scalpel at her.

She rolls her eyes. "Happy now?"

"Very."

* * *

"Alright. I'm done, you done?"

"Almost done with this one, and it's the last. I am on the 9"

"Sweet. I will get us some syringes." She digs around in the drawer of the bench, and pulls out two empty syringes.

"Alright. Here is one heaping pile of radioactive green shit." He hands her the glass bowl of powder. She takes it and pours it into her vial of silvery liquid, she puts her thumb over the top and shakes it up. She hands the vial to Hancock, and fills the syringes from the tube, using about half the supply.

"Looks like we will have enough for another trip too." She pauses. "You sure you wanna do this, John?"

"Yea, I am always down for a ride, especially if it's with you." He realizes the duel meaning of his words a second too late, when she raised her eyebrow at him. "That's not what I meant. Not that it's not true." Shit-eating grin on his face. She giggles lightly.

"Come on. Let's go let Jenn lock us up and get high as shit."

* * *

They enter the library-like bedroom, and Jenn locks the door behind them. Dora begins to smile. "I have never done this with anyone else before. I am excited." She sits on the bed and pats the spot beside her. "You'll want to sit. The initial rush is crazy and it burns like hell." Hancock sits beside her, and she hands him one of the syringes.

Dora lines up a vein in her elbow and slides the needle into her skin, depressing the plunger until the liquid is all gone. "FUCK!" She lays back on the bed and begins to grip the blankets. Hancock doesn't waste time and follows her. Inserting the needle and emptying the tube into his body.

She was right. It burned worse than anything he had had before. Much worse than the one meant to carry the serum. But after the burn was a rush of sensation through his entire body. Its like he could even feel his insides vibrating. He laid back on the bed, right beside Dora, He turned his head to look at her, but she was already facing him. She let go of the sheets and grabbed his right hand with her left. The touch of her skin against his was more intense than he knew was even possible. It was like electricity was flowing freely between them. The look in her eyes said she felt it too. "Holy shit." He whispered with a smile. Even the sensation of the sound leaving his throat felt amazing.

"I know." She whispered back. The sound of her voice seemed to surround him, and it was beautiful. He could feel her voice inside him, like the sound left little deposited of energy in his body as it passed through him. She rubs his thumb with hers and the sensation travels through his body, he feels it with every part of him, the only thing he can think of that feels remotely like this is an orgasm. _An intense one too… Just from her touchin' my hand._ Her voice breaks the thoughts swimming in his head, "What do you think of it?"

He speaks before he has a chance to go over the response in his head. "Right now. Your hand in mine. It's the single nicest thing I ever felt." He knows that normally he would have regretted being so forward, but right now, he can't feel anything but happiness. _Invincible._ He watches her smile like it's in high definition and slow motion, her lip sticking to her teeth lightly as it moves past them. The smile moving from her lips to a sparkle in her eyes. _Her eyes._ "Your eyes are like the ocean. But not the apocalypse ocean, but the beautiful ones in those pre-war travel magazines." He sees them shimmer like waves in the sea.

"You know. I thought your skin against mine was heaven before. But like this it's better than I ever could have imagined." Dora looks into his charcoal eyes, "When I first moved here, to Boston, I went to the coast to see the ocean for the first time. But it was like midnight, and a new moon, so it was pitch black dark outside. I turned out my flashlight and looked out over the water, and I could see the night sky reflecting on the surface. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen." She shifts so that she is laying on her side, facing him completely. "That's what your eyes are like." His lips creep up into an even bigger smile, and his eyes seem to get even deeper.

"I don't think anybody's ever said anything like that to me before." Hancock whispers.

"I don't believe that. I saw all those women falling all over you in Goodneighbor, looking at me like competition." Dora laughs.

"Sunshine, there _is_ no competition. And the last thing those broads are thinkin' about is my eyes."

Dora raises an eyebrow, "Is that a dick joke?"

Hancock laughs, "No. But that works to. What I meant was, they don't want me. They want the mayor. Their lust is for power and importance. My dick has very little to do with it. The rest of me has even less. I used to take 'em up on it, but after a while I realized it just left me feelin' empty afterwards. Not even worth it."

"Bitches, man. Just as shallow as the guys."

"We aren't all like that, doll. Most of us, yes, but not all." Hancock jokes, and a moment of silence passes before he speaks again. "That Daniel guy is a special kind of asshole, why is he even here?"

"He's not normally an asshole. He is normally very civil and charming, I think he was mad at me and jealous of you. I mean. I know it's an act, I'm not stupid. But he is normally very kind to me, and he can sell chems to anyone for more than they would be willing to pay normally. That boy could bat his eyelashes and convince anyone that Jet would solve all their problems. He is a great employee, and when he isn't being a horny dick or a jealous asshole, he is pleasant to be around."

"So, I am not allowed to kill him for what he said to you, then?"

Dora laughs lightly, "I appreciate the offer, but I would rather you didn't. It's not an easy job to sell my merchandise and receive payments. I was doing it myself for a year until Daniel came along."

"Who did it before that?"

"That's a touchy subject around here. With Jess and Jenn. They had an older brother, Jarod. He did it before that."

"What happened to him?" Hancock sees her swallow hard.

"He was beaten to death in Goodneighbor. Vic's guys. I always warned him he shouldn't stay the night there. But he had faith in the place. He would have loved to see what you have done with it."

"What'd this Jarod look like?"

"He was a pretty rough ghoul. More scars than most. He went through a lot to take care of his sisters. He always wore this stupid ski cap and a bright blue jacket." She closes her eyes and smiles at the memories.

Realization dawns on Hancock. "That was him. The drifter who inspired me to fix it all. I never talked to him. It's nice to be able to put a name to the face."

Dora opens her eyes and smiles, "I am glad something good came of his death. He would be so happy. I can practically see his smile." She closes her eyes again, like she is drifting to another time and place.

"You loved 'im didn't ya?" Hancock asks, seeing the sad smile on her face.

"I don't even know what love is, but looking back, yeah I guess I did. I tried to avenge him, but unlike you, I went in alone and without a plan. Got the shit kicked outta me. I think I killed maybe two of 'em. If it hadn't have started storming, I would have died."

"Funny how shit works out." Hancock gives her a soft smile, _I gotta cheer her up, bring her back to the now._ "So, have you ever danced with anyone?"

Dora gives him a peculiar look, "Like, real dancing? No. After a couple bottles of hard liquor I have been known to dance on bar tops. I missed all my chances at real dancing."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Before the war we had school dances, everyone wore fancy clothes, and it was supposedly the most romantic night possible. All the girls wanted to lose their virginity that night."

"You didn't?" Hancock asks, wry smile creeping across his face.

Dora laughs, "No. I got dressed up and everything cause, I wanted to feel pretty, but I just hung out in the parking lot and smoked weed with the burnouts."

"That's my kinda lady." He pauses, "But you should dance. It's nice in its own way." He stands up next to the bed, and her gaze follows him as he moved to the small radio on the nightstand beside the headboard and flicked it on. Diamond City radio fills the room with soft music. He walks towards her, and she sits up to face him, his smile met with a questioning gaze. "May I have this dance?"

She raises a brow, "I have no idea how to dance, John."

"That's fine, I'll show ya." He extends his hand towards her, and she places her hand in his, standing up and moving to a more open part of the room. He interlaces the fingers of her right hand in his left, and places his right arm around her lower back, maneuvering his arm under the ends of her hair. She snakes her left arm around his upper back.

"Is that right?"

"It's great, doll. Now just follow me, try not to look at your feet, look up here at this ugly mug." He starts to step and she clumsily follows his steps, looking at her feet despite his instructions.

"What ugly mug?" She returns her eyes to his as she starts to feel the rhythm of him and the music, she smiles that goofy smile he loves so much. "Look, we are doin' it!"

He hesitates, lost in thought – lost in her face. "Yeah. You are doin' great, sunshine." He is struggling to keep time with the music. She is too distracting. The electricity between them made even more palpable by the drugs, and now they are touching at so many different points. Her hand in his, his arm around her, holding her body flush against his. He barely notices when he backs her into a raised board in the floor, and she stumbles. _Shit._ He manages to react in time to swing their bodies around so that he hits the ground first, with her landing on top of him. "You okay?"

Dora starts laughing, "Yeah, I am fine, are you okay?" She shifts her body so that her arms are on either side of his head, supporting most of her weight, the rest of her is still straddling his waist. She notices his hat on the floor roughly a foot from them, "You lost your hat."

He pauses, realizing the situation they are in, her smiling down at him, strands of her hair tickling his face and surrounding him with her scent. "I am great, doll. The hat doesn't matter." He is fighting his thoughts about her on top of him, not wanting to make the situation awkward by pitching a tent.

The silence fills the small space between them, giving Dora the time to really feel him. Feel his breath on her, the warmth radiating off his body, and the feel of him in between her legs. Her breath quickens as the thought sends a rush straight downward into her core. She looks over his face, looking for a sign that he wants this as much as she does.

Hancock notices the heat come into her cheeks, and the fire coming into her eyes as she looks him up and down. _Am I imagining this? I have to be._ "What are you doing?" He asks, his voice in a lower octave than usual, and he shifts under her no longer able to restrain himself.

Dora feels him shift, and feels why. Sending even more sensation through her. "I don't know. You tell me." Her voice is low, sultry. _Seductive?_

"Dollface, are you sure about this?" He pauses, "About me?" She smirks down at him, and nods slowly. He runs his hand under her hair and up to caress her cheek, she closes her eyes and moves into his touch. He uses his other hand to grip her thigh above her knee, and quickly rolls her underneath him, her eyes look up at him, surprised. He rubs her cheek with his thumb before sliding his hand into her hair, and pulling her face towards his, closing the space between them, his thin lips meeting hers. They are the softest he has ever felt, with the faint taste of tequila mixing with the taste of her mouth.

She closes her eyes, focusing on the feel of his lips on hers, relying on instinct and his rhythm to guide her. She opens her mouth slightly and he seizes the opportunity to deepen the kiss, their lips moving together. He starts to glide his hand up her thigh, and she pushes into his kiss even deeper. She moves her hand to the back of his neck, feeling his rough skin under her fingertips. He flicks his tongue at her lower lip and she moans into his mouth, sending a jolt of heat through him; further intensifying the already intense feelings coursing through his body. The high of the drug magnifying the high of _her._

She feels his arousal pressing into her and it only excites her more, she pushes his frock off his shoulders and he discards it to the floor near his hat. His hand drifts up her thigh and to her hips where he starts to feel the rough spots. She pulls away from the kiss, looking up at him with concern all over her face. _She's still scared._ "I meant what I said earlier. " He whispers, before returning his mouth to hers, and she closes her eyes and lets her self-consciousness fade away. His hand drifts southward towards her core as be begins to trail kisses from her lips to her neck.

She moans lightly at his lips on her neck. She never imagined something so simple could feel so good. Then his hand reaches its destination, he rubs her clit through the thin fabric, and it's the most intense and wonderful thing she has ever felt, without thinking she bites Hancock's neck to stifle a scream, and he lets out a groan somewhere between pain and pleasure. She pulls away when she tastes the familiar metallic taste of blood. "Fuck. I am so sorry I –" She starts to apologize, but she is interrupted by his lips returning to hers. He tastes his own blood in her mouth, and somehow that only makes his fire burn even brighter. He loses himself in her, feeling her body, tasting her mouth, the sweet tingles of her fingers sliding under his shirt.

Suddenly he pulls away, gasping for breath, hearing a quiet whine from Dora at the loss of contact. "As much as I don't want to, we gotta stop this, toots." She looks up at him, the pangs of hurt visibly spreading across her face. "No, no. It's not what you think. If we keep going like this, your first kiss is gonna turn into your first time, and you deserve better than that. You should be sober, and…not on the floor." Dora opens her mouth to protest, but Hancock stops her with a quick chaste kiss before rolling to lay beside her.

Dora turns her head to him, "T-Thank you, John" she whispers, still breathing heavy. Feeling the need of sleep catching up to her.

"I don't know what you are thankin' me for, but whatever it is, its's my pleasure, doll." He gives her a lazy smile, his eyes getting heavy as well.

* * *

Hancock opens his eyes, unsure of how much time he has been asleep, but the morning sun is just beginning to light up the room, and he can still feel the tingles of the high. He sees Dora is no longer beside him, but curled up in front of a painting in the corner, paint brushes and paint surrounding her. He looks at the painting, and sees that it is of him, and he can't help the huge smile that crosses his face.

He picks up his hat and coat and returns them to their rightful location, then walks over to Dora, and gently lifts her from the floor, careful not to wake her, and tucks her into her bed. She shuffles lightly, muttering indecipherable words under her breath. He softly smiles down at her, and takes a thick blanket from the end of the bed and returns to the floor.

* * *

Dora opens her eyes to a bright sunny room, reeling from the Post-Radam headache. _Shit. What happened last night?_ She thinks about what she remembers and sees the memories of her and John. Dancing. Kissing. More. _No, surely that was a dream? Nothing that nice happens to me in real life._ She peers over the end of the bed, looking for proof of their encounter, but only sees a fully clothed, sleeping Hancock on the floor, and a large painting of his face. _I don't remember doing that._ She stares at the painting, admiring her own work. Proud that she was able to capture that shimmer in his eyes that makes her weak at the knees. _I must have been dreaming about us together while painting that. I have to hide it before he sees it. I don't want to have to explain why I was painting him, much less what I was imagining when I was doing it._

She stands up slowly, carefully making her way to the painting and gently hiding it behind some older works. She grabs some fresh clothes from a drawer and heads through the now unlocked door.

* * *

Hancock wakes with a start, hearing the sound of distant voices, he looks to the bed, and sees that Dora isn't there. His head is pounding, _I guess all drugs have after effects._ He looks over to the paintings in the floor, and sees that the one of him is no longer there. _If it even existed… How much of what I remember actually happened? Could I really have just imagined all of what happened between us?_ He moves his hand to his neck and cringes at his own touch. He pulls his hand away and sees dried blood on his fingertips. _The blood, and the bruise from her bite. That was real._ He smiles, excited to run out into the hall and kiss her good morning when an unwelcome thought drifts into his mind, _What if she doesn't remember?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there you have it, the first taste of real smut. Sorry I am bad at it. I tried though. I hope it was acceptable. Let me know what you think!
> 
> Also, I am not going to pretend that I will update again soon. School is hard, I have a lot going on. Not much time for writing for fun, its usually just lab reports. I will do my best though!
> 
> -Jumb


	13. Walking that Thin Line

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I cannot apologize enough for how long it has been. I am terrible, I know. I wish I could say it is all because of school, but that's not true. This chapter I already had written before I disappeared, I just wasn't happy with it, and wasn't sure where to go from here. Then I lost my inspiration, fell back into my timeless fandoms, and couldn't make myself come back. But I thought you guys deserved an update. So here it is. I am sorry if its silly, I think it is cheesy, but it is so hard to decide that sort of thing about your own work. If somebody wants to volunteer to be a beta reader or something, someone to bounce my ideas off of, that would be cool. If not, that's cool too. I don't know when the next update will be. But I promise, I haven't forgotten about ya'll.

Dora stares up into the water coming down on her face. Trickling down. She places her hands on the shower wall in front of her to maintain her balance.

"What the hell am I thinking?" She mutters to herself. "He doesn't want me, and even if he does, he shouldn't. It's not fair to him."

She opens her eyes, letting the water sting into them, "I am being selfish. He deserves much better than this. Than me."

She crosses her forearm across the wall and places her forehead against it, looking down at her ghoul-spots spreading into her tattoos. "It doesn't matter what I want. It's about what he deserves. He doesn't deserve the heartache of being with someone only to have them die a month later. That's not fair. It's selfish of me to want that for him, just because I want to be with him."

Her tears begin to mix with the water running down her face, then a realization hits. "He is going to _know._ " Her breathing picks up pace. "When I start to go, he is gonna realize what I did." _He is going to blame himself._

"I can't let him know. He can't know about my death, or he will carry the guilt of that around with him." _His heart is too big for his own good._

Her hands ball into fists against the wall, "But what the fuck can I do about it? He is here, he is going to see."

_You are gonna have to white-fang him._

"I can't do that, I don't have it in me to hurt _him._ Not any more than I already have."

_If he stays and sees you die because of him, don't you think that will hurt him more than just thinking you are a bitch?_

"But he will see right through me. He always sees through my bullshit. Especially when I am trying to push him away."

_Then don't just push. Attack. Hit him low. Make him hate you. Regardless of how much it hurts._

* * *

Hancock spent the day trying to help out with the patients in the office. Jenn and Jess seemed appreciative of his effort, but Dora was just responding with anger. Scowls. Snide quips, every word to him was both pained and painful. _Jesus, what could I have possibly done last night to make her this damn pissed at me? I don't remember anything after…our dancing, but could I really have done something to deserve this type of reaction? And if I did, why does she remember THAT and not the rest of the night?_

He watches her clean up the office as the day comes to a close, the last patient left not too long ago. _I have to find out what I did. An' then I have to fix it._

Jess and Jenn have retreated back to their rooms to relax, and Hancock sees Dora heading up the stairs, he comes up behind her, "Hey, you got a minute to talk?"

Without even turning around she replies with a gruff "No" and she proceeds up the staircase. He follows her to the top, and grabs her wrist, and her angry, sad eyes pierce him.

"I am not gonna take that as an answer, you are gonna tell me what I did last night that got you so damn pissed at me!"

"Let go of me!" She rips her wrist away from him. "What do you THINK you did?!" she half-yells.

"I really have no fucking clue!" The volume of his voice rising with his frustrations.

"Of course you don't." She replies, "Why are you even still here, why don't you just fucking leave?!"

"You know damn well why I am here, Dora."

Dora swallows hard, but tries to hide it. _Stay strong. Keep it up._ "No, I really don't. You don't need a reason to run from your town. You didn't need a reason to run from Diamond City. But if you really need an excuse, why don't you run back to Nora." She pauses, her mouth opening with a slight smirk, "Oh wait, she chose a synth over you. Bummer. That must really fucking suck. Surely you can find another pretty face to reject you?"

Hancock's breathe hitches with the sting of her words, his own anger welling up inside him as he steps towards her, she takes a small step back, her back approaching the wall of the social room. "Why are you acting like this?" He states, voice quivering.

Dora takes a deep breath. _Can't stop now._ She fakes a laugh, "Acting? Hancock, I have always been a raging bitch. I was just being nice to you 'cause I felt bad for trying to kill you. I think I have done enough, seeing as how I saved your life and all. Why don't you just leave so both our lives can go back to normal?!" She screams.

Hancock's loses his grip on his anger, "So you can go back to pushing away everyone that cares about you? So you can go back to defending the assholes that put you down? Hell, if that's what you want you are more fucked up than I thought. Maybe when I leave you can try to kill yourself again. Maybe you won't fuck it up this time."

He regretted every word as soon as it left his mouth, but before he could apologize, she had raised her hand, and was bringing it swiftly towards his face, "FUCK YOU HANCOCK!" She screams, but before her palm could make contact, he grabs her wrist. Hard. Without skipping a beat she brings up her other hand to take another shot, and he grabs that wrist with his other hand. When she starts to flail he pushes her back into the wall, her hands pinned above her head, his right knee between her legs, securing her to the wall, but she continues to fight.

"Stop trying. We both know damn well you can't overpower me. An' now that I have you, you are gonna give me some answers." He moves his face to hers, if he had a nose, they would be tip to tip. She can feel his hot breath on her face. "Now look me in the eyes and tell me you really want me to leave." His voice lower now that she has ever heard it.

She can feel her jaw quivering. Frustration. Upset. Sadness. But looking into his deep, dark eyes, she can't lie to his face. She clenches her jaw tight, trying to look sternly at him, then tries to pull her arms free of his grip.

Without hesitation, he slams her wrists back against the wall, "Just say the words and I am fucking gone. Just **_say it._** " He stares into her eyes, and sees the shimmering sadness in them, and sees her trying with all her might to still her quivering mouth, and he realizes what she is doing. Because it's what he would do in her place. She turns her head away, looking anywhere but him. Certain she has lost her resolve to physically fight him, he moves her wrists so that he can hold them both in his left hand, and uses his right hand to pull her face back to him, she just stares in stern defiance.

"Listen to me. I know exactly what you are doing. Trying to push my buttons. Push me away. You did a damn good job too. You made me snap even though I was trying so hard not to." She tries to pull her face away again, but he tightens his grip on her face just enough to hold her gaze. "You know why I was trying so hard not to? 'Cause that is the easy choice. Runnin' the second things get too hard. An' I don't wanna do that anymore. I am not gonna let you do it either. I know you are trying so hard to keep me out, so you can go back to hidin'. Hidin' in this house. In books. In your own mind. I know first-hand how lonely it gets. You don't deserve that kinda hurt." Tears fill her eyes, and run slowly down her cheeks, only to be wiped away by Hancock's fingers. "I am sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it, just like you didn't mean the things you were sayin'. I fuckin' care about you Dora, and you trying to push me away only gives me a bigger reason to hang around."

His words resonate in her, hitting nerves she didn't know she had with things she never knew she wanted to hear, and all of her resolve to fight fades away as those dark eyes bore into hers. After a moment of silence she beings to realize the situation. His closeness. His breath on her face. His hand on her wrists. His body pressed against hers. His knee against her… _Oh._ With that last though a jolt of arousal radiated through her body, as her eyes fall to his lips, and her breathing speeds up its pace. Her mind flashing back to the things she imagined last night. How real they felt. How nice they were.

Hancock feels the rise and fall of her chest intensify, and he could have sworn he sees her eyes drop to his lips. Then he feels his knee get… _Warmer?_ Upon realization of where his knee actually is, he starts to see the full picture just like she seems to have seen. _She is turned on…She_ _ **likes**_ _this._ He experimentally pushes his knee harder against her, eliciting the sexiest little gasp, followed by a slightly open mouth and a fiery look in her blue eyes that sends heat straight to his cock. He leans in, and is delighted by the look of disappointment when he moves past her lips and to her ear.

"You still want me to leave, dollface? 'cause I am kind of a fan of where I am right now." He whispers into her ear. His thin lips grazing her earlobe, then clamping around it sucking gently. Loving the low moan that rumbles out of her throat. He pulls away quickly, returning his face to right in front of hers. He leans in, but stops just centimeters before his lips meet hers. She opens her eyes to see him with a playful smirk on his face, and fire in his eyes, "I am not moving another inch until you look me in the eyes and tell me you want this as much as I do." He whispers, his voice a low whisper of gravelly sex.

Trying to escape his smoldering gaze, she diverts her gaze anywhere but his eyes. Darting around to various places, she stops with her eyes on his neck. More specifically on the healing bite-mark she sees there. _I didn't imagine that?_

Her thoughts are cut short when he sees where she is staring, and the look of realization in her eyes, "So you do remember?" His smirk drifting even wider, when her eyes jump back to his. "You are sober now. Just say the words, and we can pick up where we left off last night." He moves forward so his forehead is resting against hers, and whispers, "Say it. I need to hear you say it."

"John, I want you." She whispers, and the words had barely had a chance to reach his ears by the time his lips were on hers. Her lips were just as soft as they were when he was high, and electricity of the drug was replaced by something else. The knowledge that this was completely without the influence of any substance. This was all them. Their mouths moving together, tongues dancing and entwining in their joined mouths. His left hand still on her wrists, and his right knotted in her hair.

When they break for air, he uses his knee to push her further up the wall, and she wraps her legs around his waist, her thighs resting on his hips, his weight pushing her into the wall and keeping her there. He releases her wrists so he can reach down and grab the area where ass meets thigh to keep her steady. She uses her now free hands to grab the sides of his face and return her lips to his.

He pulls back, leaving both of them panting, "So, sunshine, you ready to take this freakshow to the bedroom?"

She giggles and pulls his hat off his head and places it on her own. "I am so fucking ready, Hancock." He smiles what she thinks is the biggest, most heartfelt smile she has ever seen on his face, as he lifts her off the wall and begins to carry her down the hallway, kicking open her bedroom door and carrying her inside.

* * *

Jess and Jenn who had been spying from their respective doorways since the screaming began, looked at each other in complete awe.

"Ho. Ly. Shit." Jessica breaks the silence, smiling at Jenn.

"I don't know about you, but I need new panties. And I am sure as shit SHE is gonna need new panties." Jenn replies, "It's about time she got a good dicking."

"I know. I always hoped Daniel would get through to her though."

"Did you forget what happened yesterday?"

"Oh, no. Not after that. Before that though. You know I am a sucker for that best-friend turned lover thing."

"Yeah, I know. But Daniel's a dick."

"He wasn't always a dick. He was a cocky ass, but not like this. Not to her. He really has a jealous possessive streak."

"I shudder to think what this is gonna do to him."

"Let's just hope he doesn't take it out on her this time."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope it wasn't too awful. Sorry again. =(
> 
> Love,
> 
> -Jumb


End file.
